What to Bring to Your Post-Return GP Appointment
귀국 후 진료 (gwiguk hu jinryo — medical care after returning home) starts with a GP appointment booked before you leave Korea. The table below covers what to bring and why each document matters.
| Document / item | Why it matters | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Surgical summary in English | Your GP's baseline for assessment and referral | Request from Korean clinic before departure; most Gangnam clinics provide as standard |
| Procedure name and technique (specific) | Allows GP or specialist to look up technique-specific norms | In surgical summary; request clarification from coordinator if absent |
| Implant records (brand, model, volume, batch) | Needed for any revision or complication assessment involving implants | Request from clinic as a separate document; keep permanently |
| Full medication list with doses and duration | Prevents harmful interactions with any treatment your GP initiates | Provided at discharge; photograph before leaving Korea |
| Post-operative care instructions | GP reference for wound care protocol | Provided at discharge; bring original and take a photo |
| Surgeon's direct contact / telemedicine details | Enables parallel consultation with Korean clinic if needed | Request before leaving Korea; confirm method (KakaoTalk, email, clinic platform) |
| Pre-operative photos (frontal and lateral) | Baseline comparison for symmetry and result assessment | Photograph yourself before departure; ideally standardised frontal, lateral, oblique |
| Post-operative photos at day 7–10 (in Korea) | In-Korea baseline before swelling increases on flight | Photograph yourself before flying home |
| Travel insurance policy number | Required immediately if complications require specialist referral | Note on phone; photograph policy card |
| K-MEDI claim information (180-day window) | Start-clock awareness for any future dispute | Know the 180-day window from complication discovery date |
What Your GP Can and Cannot Do
Your GP can:
- Assess wound status, redness, swelling, and signs of infection
- Prescribe antibiotics for wound infections
- Remove external sutures
- Aspirate seromas (fluid collections) with appropriate training, or refer you to a minor surgical service
- Refer you to a local plastic surgery department for specialist assessment
- Document complications for insurance claims or K-MEDI filings
- Issue a sick leave certificate if recovery impacts your work
Your GP cannot:
- Revise or correct the surgical result
- Operate to address technical outcomes (asymmetry, implant issues)
- Provide a clinical opinion on whether your Korean surgeon performed the procedure correctly
For specialist input: Ask your GP for a referral to a local plastic surgery department. NHS hospitals (UK), public hospital outpatient clinics (Australia, Canada), and private plastic surgeons all accept post-operative patients who are not their own — bring your full Korean documentation.
Will my GP know what a Korean procedure involves?
Likely not in detail. Most GPs have not specialised in Korean aesthetic surgical techniques. This does not prevent them from helping you — a wound infection is a wound infection regardless of the procedure that created the wound, and your GP can assess, prescribe, and manage standard post-operative issues with the documentation you provide. For technique-specific questions (whether an asymmetry result is within normal range for your specific rhinoplasty technique, for example), telemedicine follow-up with your Korean surgeon is more appropriate than asking your GP.
Can I get sutures removed by my GP or a local nurse?
Yes — suture removal is a basic clinical procedure that any registered GP, nurse, or cosmetic nurse can perform. Bring your Korean post-operative instructions which will specify the stitch type and recommended removal timing. Korean clinics typically use dissolvable sutures internally and non-dissolvable sutures externally in face and body procedures; external sutures are removed at day 5–7. If you return home before your scheduled suture removal, arrange this with your GP or a local nurse clinic before departure.
What should I do if my GP says they can't help because the surgery was done abroad?
Your GP has an obligation to provide emergency and urgent care regardless of where a procedure was performed. For non-urgent issues, some GPs may be uncertain about assessing post-Korea surgery patients. In this case: bring a full copy of your Korean surgical summary as the baseline document; request a referral to a local plastic surgery department rather than asking your GP to manage the complication independently; and contact your Korean clinic by telemedicine for a concurrent consultation that your local team can also see.