Go out and do something. It isn’t your room that’s a prison, it’s yourself.”
— Sylvia Plath

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    The Gynecologist

    Let’s face it: going to the gyno in your own country isn’t the most sought after thing. Going in a different country where they don’t even speak English, that’s a whole different barrel of monkeys. 

    I’ve need to go for a bit now but just haven’t really wanted to find a doctor who speaks English, take the time off from school, and actually go. Since I have this time off I decided there was no time like the present. I also needed to get on birth control of some sort. 

    I knew I was going to have to find a doctor in Seoul so I went to my one-stop website for that kind of thing: Korea4expats.com. The first one I clicked on sounded and looked great: Medi Flower. It’s the only “women’s and birthing clinic” in Seoul apparently. Medi Flower is in Gangnam and they speak English, they even have a foreigner lady who just started working their as well. 

    Setting up the appointment was quite easy. On the website an e-mail was listed. I sent them my availability and they were back in touch with me within 24 hours. AFter the initial e-mail communication was fast and effective. They told me a day and time and I said that’d work for me. 

    I was able to get off work to make it to my appointment today at 4:00pm. Once I arrived and walked to the information desk they knew who I was, “Rachel?” says the lady I swapped e-mails with. They had me fill out some basic forms and we talked about what I wanted: pap-smear and a consultation for birth control or the IUD. 

    After waiting a few minutes I was asked to move seats closer to the Doctors office. I waited in total 20 minutes. I arrived early and after I filled out paper work I only had to wait for about 5-10 minutes. 

    Once my time came around I was ushered into the office where my consultation took place. I was with Dr. Park, the female doctor, and she spoke perfect English—just what I was looking for. We talked about what procedures would be done today, pap-smear and ultrasound (it’s done in all offices in Korea), and then we talked about various forms of birth control. I told her I wanted an IUD, she said absolutely not and listed about 10 reasons why I shouldn’t want one and a few more as to why she won’t give me one. There was no convincing her otherwise so we settled on pill form birth control. 

    By the assistant I was then ushered into the exam room which is actually the same room just separated by a wall/door. Going to the Gynecologist in America is vastly different from Korea. There is no cozy consultation room, just the Doctors office or exam room. There is no cute changing room offering you tissue and pads for after the procedure. Everything was an entirely new experience for me, as is most things about living abroad.

    In the states we strip from all of our clothes and put on a silly paper gown. The assistant didn’t speak the greatest English so I was slightly confused as to what I was supposed to change out of and in to. In the changing room were two skirts: I didn’t didn’t know if they were supposed to be work one on bottom and one on top, or as a strapless dress. I had it as a strapless dress and walked out asking if my cloth gowns were donned properly. She immediately blushed and said no pushing me back into the changing room. My bra was still on but the cloth was pulled with up as a strapless dress would be. She said through blushed cheeks that I should keep my shirt on. At this point I was sweating and clammy with embarrassment both for dressing wrong and the usual clamminess that comes with making a trip to the Gyno. 

    So finally I walk out with confidience hoping to have done this correctly. She asks me to sit but I realize I still have my under-roos on and that seems impractical for a visit to the gyno. So she ushers me to the changing room once more. Upon my emergence she looks exhausted with my inability to dress accordingly for this simple procedure. 

    I’m asked to sit in the chair with the stirrups, although, they aren’t stirrups. They are thigh grips in a sort of way. I have to scoot all the way down and my thighs are rested in the stirrups.

    Dr. Park starts immediately. She pulls me closer and asks me to relax. Next, a bar with a towel blocks me from a large HiDef TV. She does the pap-smear and then the ultrasound. The ultrasound is quite interesting. She sends this ultrasound stick in me and pulls the towel away and wham! there I am on the HiDef screen. She shows me the inside of my uterus of which I am immediately alarmed about because there is this huge gray streak across it until I realize that’s where the baby must go. She moves it around, quite painfully, actually, and shows me my ovaries. And then all sorts of other things. 

    As far as I know they don’t do those kinds of things in the states. I must say, it was quite interesting. 

    I recommend anyone to make a stop, if needed, to Medi Flower. 

    How to get there: 

    By Subway
    We are very close to Exit 13 at Seoul National University of Education Station(Lines 2 and 3, Stops 223 and 340). Just go straight from Exit 13 about 50m and you’ll see women’s clothing stores on your left. We are located on the 2nd floor of the same building.

    Because it’s in Gangnam and an English clinic I was expecting the cost to be outrageous. In total it was 129,000 Korean Won. Far less than what I expected. 

    1. kateulina said: Which is WEIRD because in Canada, my doctor practically forced me to get one. I said, “IT’S A SCARY METAL THING IN MY WOMB” and she said, “IT WILL BE FINE, YOU BABY.” So I got it and it’s great.
    2. wpsl said: Thank you for this post because I have been looking for one as well^^
    3. ohheythereworld posted this
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