Is Your Korean Surgeon Qualified?

In my recent public talk on eyelid surgery, a patient shared a cautionary tale with the audience. Her friend was impressed with the Korean cosemtic surgery because of the omnipresent advertisements and news showing fantastic outcomes. 

So she contacted an agent who promised her they can get her a facelift in a top Korean cosmetic  centre. The fee came to USD25,000. Off she went and had the operation in a centre near Seoul which she can’t pronounce the name and the operation was done by a surgeon who was not the one who consulted her in the cinic. The consultation was done through a Chinese interpreter as the doctors could not understand English or Mandarin. She was discharged five days after the operation and flew back home. However, the result was unsatisfactory with unsightly scars. In addition, the wounds got infected and she was admitted to a local hospital for one week of intravenous antibiotic. She contacted the agent who said they can arrange for her to return to Korea for revision but she needed to pay another USD15000. At the end, she had scar revision by a local Malaysian plastic surgeon and the surgeon checked out the name of the centre where she had the operation and found that the centre was not a cosmetic but an orthopaedic centre and the doctors were orthopaedic not cosmetic surgeons.

South Korea has 1,400 registered cosmetic surgery clinics which received over 150,000 clients from other countries in 2012. However, the popularity of Korean cosmetic surgery expertise has given rise to a number of incidents and disputes over the results of the procedures, as well as the clinics' fees and agencies who arranged the trip and the surgery as a package. Some of the clinics were found to be unqualified to perform surgery and some agencies have been found to be running scams. Many patients said they also had inadequate understanding and knowledge about the procedures they underwent.

People who plan to undergo cosmetic surgery in South Korea should go to reputable clinics and research these clinics beforehand through the internet or reputable agencies. As many surgical procedures involve advanced medical terminology and knowledge, many non-Korean patients have problem communicating with Korean doctors even if they can speak English. Therefore, it is essential that patients should select experienced travel agencies with medical knowledge to help with communication.

End note:

A recent article from theMalaysian Chinese newspaper Sinchew Daily reported that as many as 90% of theoversea clients who visited Korean Cosmetic Centre were operated by unqualified surgeons.  (see below). Many agents used the names of established cosmetic surgeons to attract business but the operations were performed by trainees. Many agents take almost 90% of the fee paid by the clients.

醫生與中間人勾結牟利‧韓整形醫師九成“山寨＂

2014-08-26 17:07

（韓國‧首爾26日訊）受“韓流”的影響，越來越多的人前往韓國做整形手術，希望自己能“改頭換面”、令人驚艷。但當地媒體披露，韓國的“山寨整形”醫生高達90%。

據韓國《朝鮮日報》報道，韓國掛牌的整形醫院的醫生共達1.5萬人，其中整形外科專業醫生只有10%（1400多人），許多整形醫院為了招攬患者，在廣告中用經驗豐富的專業醫生做宣傳，但實際操刀的是新手或實習醫生。

來自廣州的李姓少女今年4月透過中間人介紹，花了2千200萬韓元（合2萬多美金）聘請首爾的整容名醫割雙眼皮、隆鼻以及在臉部注射大腿內側抽取的脂肪。

該少女剛開始很滿意整形效果，但後來赫然發現自己的會陰部位，也就是肛門和陰部中間一處狹小地方有些怪怪的，追問下才知道，動刀的是個實習生，懷疑他因經驗不足，導致原本因該從大腿內側抽取脂肪，卻變成在會陰抽取。

隆鼻導致流膿半個月

另一名中國女子今年初到韓國接受隆鼻手術，但醫生手術後竟忘記拿出她鼻子內的紗布，導致她的鼻子持續流膿長達半個多月。

韓國當地就有醫生爆料，韓國整形界其實醫療秩序混亂，為了賺錢，被國外中間人牽著鼻子走。也有不少醫生與中間人勾結，只顧追求眼前利益。

《朝鮮日報》還披露，很多中介公司和旅社均由黑幫操控，嚴重扭曲整形業的生態。

收1億韓圜只給醫院1千萬

據報，有中間人收取中國顧客1億韓圜後，只給醫院1千萬韓圜，餘數全獨吞。換言之，真的靠整容賺錢的是中間人而非整形醫生。

報道還建議，若不想成為山寨整形醫生的實習對象，最好不要到中間人介紹的醫院，而是前往資歷較深的私人醫院。

（星洲日報／國際）