Ladies, I know how frustrating taking care of your yearly checkups can be back home, but keeping up with your health doesn’t have to be a nightmare in Korea. I’d like to recommend an English-speaking OB/GYN in Hannam (near Itaewon in Seoul), Dr. Sung.
It’s best to make an appointment before you head home to being unemployed and uninsured indefinitely and possibly unable to afford birth control. By the way, you can stock up on 6 months' worth of the Korean pill for 6,000 to 9,000 won per box, depending on the pharmacy. Each box contains 21 pills for the month. Just ask for ??? or “pee-eem-yahk” at the pharmacy or write it down if you can't say it.
Unfortunately, teachers’ medical insurance doesn't cover any women's health procedures, testing, regular checkups, etc., so it can be expensive to get your yearly exam done in Korea, but at least you can afford it right now. A pelvic exam alone can be about 80,000 won, but adding the full gamut of testing and blood work comes out to 150,000 won.
The cool thing is that they use mini cameras and/or sonogram to check you out, which is really interesting if you've never seen your own insides before. Or really horrific if you're not expecting it and the doctor says, "Look here," gesturing to the horror flick on a screen you hadn't noticed before. At Dr. Sung’s offices, they’ll give you an English copy of your records before you leave Korea if you call and ask a few days in advance.
You can set up an appointment by phone or email, and when you arrive at Yaksu station by subway, give the offices a call and ask them to give directions to your taxi driver.
My only complaints are that it's really busy and rushed on Saturdays (the only time I could go since I didn't live in Seoul), the staff throws tons of printed information at you and rushes through explanations, and they're very pushy about the Gardasil "cervical cancer vaccine" shot, so please do your research and don’t hesitate to ask additional questions of the doctor and staff.
Best of luck.
Dr. Sung's Obstetrics and Gynecology (female doctor)
3 floor, Liberty House
Hannam-dong
Yongsan-gu
140-210
Telephone: 02-790-0802~3