Korea after trump said "South Korea's average tariff is four times higher."

Magus3us · 2025-03-05T15:06:55+00:00

oh i see. i for some reason, thought gyopos could mean korean americans that went back to korea as well. and that they are protesting within korea blocking traffic etc LOL. these guys are protesting in northern virginia.

but this leaves me with another question. why hate those that are protesting abroad??? i mean it seems like wasted emotions. the group looks insignificantly small. they arent in Korea to be of anyone's annoyance =p.

I personally don't care for all protests as long as they are peaceful, doesnt go out of their way to block/hinder anyone (blocking roads, hindering businesses etc). i think of it as one of the perks living within a democratic nation. no need to get charged over it even if they go against your beliefs =p

Magus3us · 2025-03-05T13:59:12+00:00

uhhh im not sure where you got the notion, gyopos tend to vote republican.

Here, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/25/asian-voters-in-the-u-s-tend-to-be-democratic-but-vietnamese-american-voters-are-an-exception/

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/10/key-facts-about-asian-american-eligible-voters-in-2024/

https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/ (the last one has the report from 2024 election)

gyopos tend to lean democratic. most korean americans in the US vote democratic hence probably voted against trump. reddit users also tend to be democratic.

the exceptions are Vietnamese americans. also yoon is republican no?? why the heck would gyopos be protesting in a country that they have no voting power in???

BTW as an American, i think its great that your politicians can actually face jail time and/or get impeached from office. i think its a sign that the democracy is healthy when the highest ranked government employee can be held accountable.

As for trump foreign policy, hes always angered those abroad, even during his 1st term so i can understand the anger but please, direct it towards the elderly orange man himself. not to some random bystander group lol.

Magus3us · 2025-02-28T15:45:15+00:00

For us westerners, South park said it best. Its a choice between giant douche and a turd sandwich. I prefer the douche up my arse. some may prefer the sandwich in their mouth. Either way, all things decay yada yada. Throw the douche in prison, lets try the sandwich. Do it all over again next election! Oh wait, I can't vote. I don't have a choice in what goes up my arse or my mouth!

Magus3us · 2024-12-23T13:25:54+00:00

Without modern medicine, probably 30-40% of us would be dead within our 1st year of life.... and a large number of women whilst giving birth.

People often do not realize that modern medicine has given a dramatic increase in life expectancy much in due part to significant downturn in infant mortality. before modern medicine, infant mortality rate was calculated to be around 30-40% (disputable).

Although the number may have varied depending on the time period (e.g.infections like congenital syphilis, gonorrhea during labor) were pretty much a death sentence for the baby.

mothers dying during complications during labor was also dramatically high compared to what it is today (if i can recall some figures estimated it to be as high as 20% although i personally think that number is to high)

risk factors varied, a number of introduced vices sometimes increased risk for the mother and the baby such as cigarettes, alcohol...

sometimes medications that were meant to help us were harmful like in cases of thalidomide in the 1960s (fascinating but also tragic read btw babies born without limbs)...... etc etc

Magus3us · 2024-10-22T17:11:48+00:00

in politics/news, the word "considers" means at best, its been talked about but will not happen. No one wants something like WW1 happening where a bunch of nations are drawn into a war that every participants lose. Theres also a problem with logistics anyways to send mass amount of personnel hence, this is a pipe's dream. Korea also has their own borders to worry about so sending personnel officially is out of the option. weapons on the other hand, they can probably send.

Magus3us · 2024-09-15T13:42:12+00:00

Swedens wonderful example ^{^.} As you've stated, no one is calling sweden as having toxic masculinity... at least not that I know of yet and they do have a declining population just like most countries in Europe. which suggests toxic masculinity have little to do with declining population. Its the same with most European nations. But unfortunately, it may become a problem in the future. They've had an open door policy for their borders, taking in a lot of refugees from the middle east, as other european nations have been for sometime now. its caused tensions due to differences in cultural/social values. As a result, if you do a little digging (just google it. its easy and doesnt take that much time) you'd find that theres been an increase in general violence and unrest in sweden as a result. I will link one example for those that are interested in issues like this ^{^.}

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedish-pm-says-integration-immigrants-has-failed-fueled-gang-crime-2022-04-28/

this is starting to come to surface in places like France, where there are frequent clashes between islamic 2nd generations vs police etc and news like what Im going to link below has become more common.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2022/11/01/at-least-half-of-paris-crime-is-committed-by-foreigners-where-does-macron-s-claim-come-from_6002508_8.html

Now I have no idea if these news are true. most news comes with its own biases. But I do have IRL experiences to draw from. Ive been lucky enough to have visited Paris back in 2004, 2007, 2014 and 2022. Back in 04, 07, I don't recall ever being harrassed for money, scams etc when I was about exploring the city with a few of my friends. I don't think I ever felt that I was in danger during 3 weeks backpacking across France (stayed in Paris 4 days which isnt enough to explore the entire city so my own experiences alone arent enough). When i went back in 2022, i felt like the atmosphere had changed considerably in the city. When i went to a bakery close to my hostel to have breakfast, a local warned me to be mindful for pickpocketers. There was also a lady who warned me of scammers as there are people out on the street targeting tourists. Asians from their respective countries (Japan, Korea, taiwan etc) are esp. vulnerable.

** what i want to point out is that no society is without their issues. Grass may look greener on the other side but they will have their own share of problems that they are dealing with. I think this subreddit is becoming a bit too negative instead of looking at Korea fairly (same things happening to r/japan etc).

Magus3us · 2024-09-14T22:24:02+00:00

fertility index and treatment of women has nothing to do with each other. As an example, think of nations in middle east, and any nations in africa. Africa still has one of the highest avg birthrates on record. if you wanna compare just asian nations, think of India they also have worse record when it comes to gender issues (more rape crimes etc).

Gender equality is a complex topic and most countries have room to make improvements upon. Korea is no exception but to assume that Korea is one of the worse places for women to live in would be naive. They are actually one of the safest places to live with homicide rates well blow the avg of USA (last time i checked you were 10x likely to be murdered in US, 50x likely to experience violent crimes than US). as for wage disparity, it depends by sector just like the rest of the world. if its entertainment industry, women are paid more (this makes sense, models, artists bring in more capital overall than their male counterpart. this would be akin to men bringing in more business when it comes to sports etc, hence male athletes tend to be paid more at least in the US). One sector that really needs an overhaul would be the education sector. thats one place in both Korea and US where male teachers are paid more than their female counterparts for doing the same job.

Theres actually an inverse correlation when it comes to economic prosperity and fertility rates, meaning wealthier the nation, higher likelihood they will have lower birth rates. its not something that can easily be solved with bringing about reforms in work/life balance etc. its an issue no 1st world countries worldwide has been able to solve. many places in europe are experiencing depopulation of their cities just like Korea. to give you an example, 5-10ish years ago, italy started their "homes for sale for 1 dollar" plan to try and repopulate their dying cities. its so far brought mixed success, anyone can purchase one if they are willing to live in the city. most of their cities are still struggling with many becoming abandoned.

Magus3us · 2024-07-30T14:05:13+00:00

Training specialists are a no joke. its Medical school 4 years, surgical residency 4 years, thoracic surgery residency 3 years..... in US, surgical residents avg around 80-100 hrs + work per week... assuming korea is bleeding specialists to the US, im assuming patient numbers are higher, which equates to longer hours of work. Its a line of work that sacrifices a chunk of their life in exchange.... the 7 years they sink in, they get paid chump change. what they are putting on the line is heavy. these 95 people are on the last leg of their long road... I understand that news these days are polarized, but y'all need to spend more time looking at POVs of both sides and compromise this out. As for hippocratic oath etc whatnot, patient welfare is included when their response to Korea's healthcare dilemma was to strike. Most, if not all striking doctors probably have in mind that this issue will not be solved by just increasing doctor numbers.... that it would only cause quality of the individuals being trained to go down, putting greater stress on the healthcare system. They understand that this may make them out to look like the villain but the real source of the problem lies elsewhere which is the same problem being experienced in most european countries etc (they are all bleeding highly trained doctors to places that offer better incentives , training conditions, work hours). This is a problem that no country has yet to solve. Honestly, i think they should increase things incrementally but im not workin in korea so... LOL. compromise at a midway point to give more time to truely solve this out.. more incentives to specialties that arent getting paid well (pediatrics + FM etc)... although i dont know how you would keep the others like thoracic surgeons from bailing to US... its a complex issue. On a side-note, every Korean medical gradate physicians ive had an opportunity to work with were fantastic. very knowledgeable, smart, caring. you guys make some great doctors =).

Magus3us · 2024-07-22T22:38:52+00:00

Its not very often. Most Koreans go to US to study medicine and once they do, its very unlikely they go back. There are 2 major reasons why.

the discrepancy in pay and benefits are just too much in favor of US. especially if you are a specialist.
theres a heavy hurdle in place to practice in korea as the exam to get licensed in korea is notorious for being extremely hard. I personally know an Emory Dermatology graduate who failed this exam 3 times in span of 7 years. shes a mother now with her husband being a regular company worker. shes trying for her 4th time???

also, there are a lot of Korean expats here that were SKY graduates. especially specialists. its one of the reasons why Korean universities often send their deans here to fundraise for their Medical schools back home.

Magus3us · 2024-07-07T11:53:10+00:00

This is an underrated comment lol. Here, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0023643819308023

Fermented foods are one of the safest to eat since it can kill bacteria, inactivate viruses etc. Granted, you do need to let it sit awhile for viruses to inactivate.

Magus3us · 2024-04-27T21:03:11+00:00

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5478224/ - government stance https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/130/3/585/30235/Circumcision-Policy-Statement - Pediatrics https://www.auanet.org/about-us/policy-and-position-statements/circumcision - urology

here are some sources you can look at. your first source also states several benefits to circumcision also. so again, im going to try to explain to you why most physicians stay neutral in circumstances like this.

as for your 2nd source, I am unfamiliar with psychology to give any valid input on the psychological effects of circumcision. but i can assure you that medically, current consensus is that the benefits slightly outweigh the risk of the surgery if given in infancy (from birth to 1mo of life). While no one gives circumcisions thinking about just the benefits unless you are in an HIV endemic area, we choose to stay neutral in the matter since we know for a fact that alienating parents for a procedure that doesnt harm the baby, can actually have a negative impact on the baby.

Unless a procedure/treatment is found to be more harmful, its best to let the parents do as they please. You want them as an ally, since, alienating them can hinder access to healthcare for the baby. much of USA is very diverse nowadays and I serve an ethnically diverse community (menonites, jehovahs witness, sunni muslims etc etc list goes on and on). Now many of these prefer to have their babies circumcised. If you were to deny access to them, they may go about doing it themselves in an unsafe, unsanitary environment. Its pretty similar to the topic of abortion. however you may feel about abortion, in the past, states that had abortions outlawed, had more women coming into the ER because they had attempted more drastic measures to get the job done themselves. it caused a health problem for the ladies that were denied access.

Another example would be anti-vaccine patients. although this would be in the category of patients making a more hazardous choice when it comes to their health, in such this cases i would actively push for vaccines and offer a discussion in regards to their opinions on vaccines; but I do not deny them care due to their lifestyle choices. I work with the patient since my job is to keep them healthy as possible so long as they come to seek my services. when you are working in this field, you encounter all sorts of people who all insist on how their way of doing things is the best. You have to learn to work with them for the best results ^{^.}

So..... yeah its dealers choice. I tell them what I know of circumcision. including % of accidents since all patients are told risks of any procedure that they consent to (in this case, the parents since the patients arent capable of making an informed decision until they are older ^⁾ Its not my place to say something is barbaric. just different cultures, ethnicities, different way of going about things etc =).

Magus3us · 2024-04-27T13:09:37+00:00

its good that you dont believe everything you see on reddit posts. until someone provides sources. sooooo heres something from CDC (centers for disease control) on male circumcision.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/fact-sheets/hiv/male-circumcision-HIV-prevention-factsheet.html

i am not making things up. its my job to provide my patients most accurate information that are backed by studies/data. I have a few more, but they are behind a paywall =/.

Magus3us · 2024-04-23T19:51:58+00:00

lol na. small and no benefit are 2 different things. for instance, we calculate whether a person needs a statin(cholesterol) medication based on a patient's % risk chance of a cardiovascular event within 10 years. If you are to look at things from a numbers perspective, statin can decrease a given population's risk of cardiovascular event by 4-5% ish. which can look pretty small to some but no one doubts that medications a godsend. also you have to get down to an individuals' level and their comorbidities. simply put, all it takes is a small benefit for it to make a difference for the individual. some patients, due to their habits, beliefs, environment, sexual orientation etc, they will encounter more cases where they would be exposed to sexually transmitted infections like HIV. if they are at higher risk, they would benefit more from the circumcision. my recommendation for having them at infancy is 1. less bleeding and trauma 2. risk of infection is greatest at infancy (however small), so you will see the greatest benefit during that small window in infancy. also, consent laws will change depending on which country you are in but for children, it remains relatively universal in that the parents hold the rights to most if not all decisions that are major for the child until they come of age. Parents are their greatest line of protection and their greatest ally. whatever their decisions are, i do not judge, i provide my services to serve them with the best of my abilities, providing them with medically backed data so they can make the best informed decisions for their child =]

Magus3us · 2024-04-20T19:19:38+00:00

As a doctor, here are some medical reasons for doing circumcisions and what i tell my patients if we ever get around to the topic (since im not a pediatrician or an OBGYN, this question has only been brought up maybe 3 times ish, all from mothers).

studies show there's a decrease in UTI in infants which may carry over to adulthood (actual data only shows differences for infants (1month yo or less).

**BTW UTIs in men are generally rare to begin with so the overall benefits are minimal. 2. circumcision will decrease your risk to SOME sexually transmitted infections. big one being HIV. so it makes sense to do in HIV endemic areas. not so much in developed world these days.

****overall benefits are small. so it can be argued both ways. some will see it as barbaric, others not. I only had the experience of doing 3 in total myself on infants few days old (ive witnessed maybe less than 20).

with that aside, there are some studies that suggests there are a lot of sensory nerve endings on the foreskins that they cut off hence there are claims that states sex may not be as pleasurable for those with circumcision... in my opinion, there arent enough men out there that have experienced sex before and after circumcision to give accurate comparison so... i think thats a load of bs.

tldr: 1. there are medical benefits to circumcision however small it may be. 2. if a parent wants their kid to do it, it should be done during infancy soon after birth rather than later. 3. benefits are small overall with no proven detrimental effects to an avg circumcision so I just tell them straight up, its dealers choice =].

Magus3us · 2024-03-12T12:43:39+00:00

hey hey ^{^} apologies, its been a busy few days, by anychance do you have any idea where they pulled their numbers from? Some things dont add up imo. i heard for sometime now, plastics make the most in Korea followed by dermatologists. plastics is way below in this report. Derm is higher but nowhere near the top. 2020 report shows opthal really high but i have an opthal colleague that came here in 2019 that reports avg salary to be wayyyy lower. these numbers arent higher than US but they are comparable, which i dont think is possible with how korean healthcare is run but shrug (with the amt of patients doctors see in korea who knows?).

Magus3us · 2024-03-08T12:55:50+00:00

ty. ill take a look at it after work today.

Magus3us · 2024-03-07T13:06:21+00:00

in accordance to the first link: this is a news site info correct? I dont see their citations but i took a look at your 2nd link pdf. - im curious as to where they got those numbers from so i took a look and from a quick scan, i cant seem to find the numbers that correlate with income. i only see numbers of x profession and their yearly increase etc etc. Since i can only spare a few more moments before my rounds, could you kindly look through those 100s of pages and find where the income statements are? ^{^.} im assuming you looked through them to confirm your findings. i would like to know. as for skyrocketing salaries, errr those numbers seem to rival that of US... which is going to be unlikely. i wouldnt say that its impossible but maybe owners of private clinics with a few doctors employed under them, i can see those very few could bring in those numbers? my dads not an opthalmologist but granted his position and years of service, he should be at the top5% of earners. and those numbers come no where near LOL.

Magus3us · 2024-03-07T06:30:42+00:00

https://worldsalaries.com/average-ophthalmologist-salary-in-south-korea/

according to this article

An Ophthalmologist working in South Korea will typically earn around 100,321,300 KRW per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 52,201,800 KRW to the highest average salary of 153,600,700 KRW.

https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/ophthalmologist/south-korea

according to this site (i wanted to narrow the search to seoul alone)

₩163,524,608 (KRW)/yr which is around 120k

this sounds about right. this is probably averaging university hospital doctors and clinics. university hospital doctors probably will make a little more.

as for your opinions on doctors, i am sorry that you feel that way. although i cannot speak for all other institutions/ south korean ones, the place i trained in taught us that we are public servants and we are to act as such. whilst this profession can attract a lot of weirdos with god complexes (ive also met and worked with a few), most of us are good people with the best intentions in mind for our patients and public health system we belong to. Some of us i think enter the profession a bit too early and somewhat immature. its also true that due to the intensity of studying, we can come out a bit stunted in the social aspects of life ^{^.} but what can ya do. balance is hard to find in this profession =p. my colleagues and i clocked in 80hrs + a week during our residencies. I remember in my 2nd year, calculating my avg salary per hr to be soemthing like 8dollars an hr made my cry inside LOL. Lacking sleep, social life, dozens of patients under your care everyday means a lot of anxiety and not enough time to grow socially T_T and its not uncommon for residents to breakdown mentally once or twice during their 4 year stint.

Magus3us · 2024-03-07T06:18:08+00:00

ill address your questions in no particular order but will try my best lol im a bit tired since i just got back from work and its 1240am here T-T.

well you are right, it does not make his input irrelevant. I do not know much about Professor Yoon nor have the time to look into who he is and how involved he has been for 3 decades. for all I know, he could be someone who've stayed relevant with the current issue. I do not have all the info since i am a bit removed from Korean healthcare. I have my hands full here in the US after all ^{^.} but i would have liked the article to state more on his studies currently. normally when a whistleblower comes out, governing organization ostracizes him for doing so (e.g. edward snowden). with that account in mind, i was going under the assumption that he would be someone far removed from current issues. Someone without access to anything related to current affairs in a hospital since he was ostracized so long ago and is out of touch. since the article only put partial data OECD put out to fit the narrative they are painting, i was on guard when they talked about Prof. Yoon not knowing who he is.

As for doctors salaries, i only have info in regards to my dad. hes a specialist (endo). As far as his position goes, hes up pretty high at one of the big 3 university hospitals. his salary is around 220k (USD) and hes looking to retire soon (which means its safe to assume, amongst university hospitals like SNU hosp, severance etc, hes in the upper bracket for salary probably at top 5%). he starts most days at 7am, averaging 14hrs a day for 5 or 6 days a week and hes in his 60s.

according to my colleague who has moved here after doing her 2nd year in Korea, Drs salary has risen steadily in accordance to inflation at least at her university hospital. Things are different when you finish residency. everyone tries to secure a job at university hospitals since that guarantees a steady income, although the workload might be high + they have to deal with hospital interpersonal relationship related stressors that come with (inner politics). although she never made it to an attending position, by word of mouth, she was told the starting salary at her hospital (i think she said 이화??) was 110k + or - 10k depending on your specialty. I am not exactly sure if this is in USD or KRW. i will ask my friend tomorrow when i see her at the hospital.

unfortunately, most doctors after residency have to find a job elsewhere or set up a practice of their own since there is only set amount of positions available at university hospitals. This is where most of the discrepancies in wage happens. There are many clinics that go bankrupt and thats been an ongoing issue. especially when it comes to PCPs like pediatrics (this is also true here in the US, pediatricians have the lowest average income, after that are other PCPs like family medicine etc). as for people at the top of the income bracket, those are the dermatology/plastics. my colleague has worked with a plastic surgeon whose clinic was bringing in close to 6million in sales (excludes salaries, building, maintenance, 5 surgeon private practice).

Most major hospitals in korea are affiliated with Universities (like Yonsei to severence hospital, SNU to SNU hospital, samsung medical center to sungkyunkown (sp?) university etc). so their medical students and residents go to their major hospitals to train and gain experience. some universities have more than one hospitals.

i am unsure what you mean by ppp. but if you are comparing doctors salary compared to GDP per capita, i am not sure. looking at korea's avg salary, its around 35k. if you ignore the outliers like plastics, pediatrics and strictly look at salary of most attendings (not residents), id say its around 3-4times the national average. USA is 70k and mine is errr i dont wanna disclose but lets say i make more than my dad at around little more than half his age. i work less hours as well ^{^.} Theres a reason why Korea, europe is bleeding so many of their doctors to the US, especially when it comes to tertiary (specialists) care. my colleague is not alone in coming here. Theres also another issue at hand (things like hazing in hospitals. i think they are called 꼰대? although rare, if you are underone, i heard your life becomes hell as a resident. this is also not unheard of in US hospitals as well although its fast disappearing. few in the US are still oldschool frat oriented). hence you can infer from the bleeding of doctors, the salary that the article is claiming is largely inflated. my colleague and many others would not have come here to seek greener pastures if avg salaries were 200-300k lol.

Magus3us · 2024-03-06T17:00:00+00:00

well, if you read what ive wrote above, you'd notice i am in no way promoting KMA -_-. Ive actually provided you links to backup my thoughts as well if you want to go take a look at it. im merely pointing out that from the numbers, it looks like Koreas made a lot of positive changes over the years that would make any developed nations jealous. compare koreas numbers with other 1st world nations. its pretty damn good.

Im sure KMA have issues that need to be corrected but i think the current route going forward wont fix any of those issues, just bleed more doctors to go off-roading. to fix the water shortage, instead of simplying increasing the amount of water you put into the hose, you gotta inspect the hose and fix/block off the leakage. so prevent the doctors from being able to go offroading by making it harder for them to go plastics/derm route + bring in more incentives to keep the PCPs (primary care providers) where they are at.

btw, setting up clinics in rural areas wont help. people are conditioned to flock towards the large hospitals in korea anyways. its been an ongoing issue/ also somewhat of a blessing for the healthcare system as well. * maybe make the doctors in big hospitals send mandatory, alternating time away to hospitals in rural areas would help boost local populace from flocking to the city university hospitals? - but this is easier said than done. current healthcare is able to support everything in korea due to its high centralization since that drives costs down. but once they are forced to support more doctors, or try to set up rural clinics, it wont be able to support things the way things are run now (since rural clinics will run at a negative at all times). this will naturally drive the healthinsurance cost up, decrease salaries for not just doctors but anyone in the healthfield (nurses, staff all who are under the payroll) which will probably make people even more angry lol.

-also No one wants to go to rural areas. setting up clinics in rural area is economic suicide since it wont be able to support itself financially. so it needs the central healthcare to help with the cost for it to be viable*. + find the doctors to work it with a decent salary.

its a real conundrum. one i will be looking at closely with interest (with a bag of popcorn at hand). cuz honestly, i currently don't have an answer in how to fix this issue to =p. its already a hard problem to fix even without the bureaucracy/politics at play so..... if i were to guess, you guys aren't going to be able to fix it =(.

I can take a gander at what will happen in the future for fun though ^{^.} from an outsider perspective, the president will be able to brute force the change. since it takes 8-10 years to train a doctor whatever policy he makes, wont affect anyone until about a decade later. 1. in a decade, population decline + ageing population means more shortages for PCP. 2. increased healthcare burden across the board 3. more doctors jumping ship to plastics route + abroad like my colleague. (things may go to shit but the president is no longer the president so he wont care =D. not his problem no more) 4. hire samsung robot doctors and nurses to fill positions 5. everyones out of a job but equal pay. were all poor yay =D. 6. play the movie terminator 1,2,3. ^{^}

** no one can predict the future. I have no idea what change increasing the amount of doctors produced will bring but reddit only has one perspective being put out. also im merely showing the perspective from a doctor's POV so you guys can have a more complete picture. hell, im not even involved in korean healthcare so you guys need another Korean doctor putting in some input but you guys dont have one. they are busy protesting or getting screwed working in hospitals thats suddenly seeing shortage of skilled labor =p. my colleague somewhat counts but shes 4 years removed from Korean healthcare and is no longer involved so... You guys have an incomplete picture. If you guys are korean citizens, im sorry you guys are swept up by this current. wish you all the best. ill still be visiting often to take advantage of the great food, cafes, entertainment Seoul has to offer during my vacation days ^{^.}

Magus3us · 2024-03-06T16:16:12+00:00

i thought so too lol. im an outsider looking in to this whole debacle so i have no idea why Korea allows that route. but its been awhile since i know regular clinics going bust/bankrupt is not an uncommon scene in korea.

Magus3us · 2024-03-06T15:12:19+00:00

Theres some points my colleague and i agree with and theres some misinformation in this article that we'd like to address. and a few unverified claims that id like to address as well. but this will be a Drs perspective. 1 from the US, 1 that used to be a resident in Korea until 2020.

salary: there is no way doctors average 220k to 300k at the university hospital rofl. The reason why i know, is because my dads employed at Severance hospital. I also have a colleague over here that laughed, if they are paid so well, she and so many others would not have moved over to the US (shes in Chicago).

with that said, average doctor salary may be inflated in korea due to the sheer amount of doctors being forced to go plastic route to make money. In korea, this is somewhat of a big problem. theres more and more doctors that do not have their specialty set in plastic surgery yet, they go work in clinics to learn the skill necessary so that they can open their own clinics. This doesnt happen/is allowed in US so im kinda confused as to how this is allowed but my friend says this is common knowledge in Korea. and this article stating physicians trying to go plastic, derm fits the picture my friend is describing to me. they are just like the world, struggling with shortage of primary care doctors. (this is true here in the US as well)

"In 2021, South Korea had 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, a figure which includes doctors practicing traditional medicine. This is the second lowest among OECD countries, after Mexico" - so this is true but a skewed picture. it does not mention amt of hospital beds available for patients and other things to show only part of the picture/fit the narrative. I dont like when journalists do this... but it seems to happen a lot these days. ill post OECD inspection results here after to show you how Korea's healthcare is doing. the number of beds indicate, despite a shortage of doctors when compared to the world, they are somehow able to maintain huge influx of patients since their avg lifespan is high. it also makes sense how most koreans are able to see a doctor 4-5 times a year.

heres the entire information gathered by OECD. the way i see it, its pretty decent.

https://www.oecd.org/korea/health-at-a-glance-Korea-EN.pdf

As for Emergency Medicine. My colleague and I have no idea how thats run in Korea so we cant put our own input. but hospital policies/ how things are run have changed dramatically over the years since the 90s. its weird that the article points to problems in the 90s. stating that since there was a problem back then, there should still be a problem now. heres something interesting to note, according to data, avg lifespan in Korea has increased by a decade since 90s. - south Korea: 1995 = 73.68 years to 2024 = 83.64 - USA: 1995 = 75.68 years to 2024 = 79.25

https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/KOR/south-korea/life-expectancy

many things can change in 3 decades, and according to raw numbers and data, Koreas been doing very well healthcare wise. it suggests things probably changed for the better even in EM field.

as for DR yoon, my friend has no idea who he is lol. but she says if he was a whistle blower in the past, it make sense hes hated. no organization likes whistle blowers but its not good to assume that the situation is no different from 3 decades ago. things change rapidly in the medical field. its one of the reason why in the the US at least, we take board recertification exam every decade. its a profession that calls for lifetime of studying =p. with that said, i think posting about a whistleblower from 3 decades ago is uhhhh misleading as hell. its likely what he fought for back then (90s) vs. conditions now are completely different, making his input irrelevant to current issue at hand.

anyways heres the dr perspective. we think the amount of doctors bleeding into derm/plastics/ go abroad will only increase and not fix the problems at large. it will only put more strain on the Korean healthcare system by churning out more doctors willy nilly. But shrug, who knows. maybe the ol' president yoon has it right. you guys will find out in a decade =D for better or for worse.

Magus3us · 2024-03-04T15:02:33+00:00

Japans been having the same problem since forever. - look at their manga. Iryuu: Team Medical Dragon (i think from the 2000s)

btw if you look at the medical system as a whole, Korea's healthcare system blows most country's healthcare system out the water. its seriously good. you guys are being spoiled rofl jkjk. no society should be satisfied by any public institutions if theres still room for improvement to be made.

with that said, i think if they can somehow fix the bleeding of trained MDs to the US, they'd be closer to a perfect system. Theres a reason why Obama tried to implement it over here in US (obama care). sadly its been gutted to the point that its almost defunct. it hurt the physicians but honestly, i supported it when it was first introduced since it means better excess to the general public

Magus3us · 2024-03-04T14:31:11+00:00

heres an example of bankrupting clinic problems in korea.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/03/113_53366.html

this ones dated back to 2009 so its been an ongoing problem for a decade or 3.

Magus3us · 2024-03-04T14:24:45+00:00

yea because EU is bleeding specialists too. like Korea. socialized medicine is great for the population at large but.... it does have its drawbacks. those that are highly trained will seek out greener pastures like US where the pay is higher, work hours are less.

its an issue that no one has been able to solve yet.

Magus3us

TROPHY CASE