I'm Korean-American so I can kinda get by, but my friend asked me this and I genuinely wasn't sure what to tell her.
Clinics with "international departments" have English speaking coordinators. But coordinators are sales staff, they're paid by the clinic. My worry would be that the nuance (risks, what's included, refund rules) gets smoothed over.
Has anyone used an independent interpreter? Worth it?
Depends on the clinic honestly. Some international teams are great. But yeah, a coordinator's job is to close. For the consult and surgery-day consent I'd want someone who works for me.
I've seen a few freelance medical interpreters in Seoul who charge hourly. Not cheap but for 2-3 hours of consults it's peanuts compared to the surgery.
Also the surgeon themselves often speaks some English but consults are rushed. having someone to ask follow-ups quickly would help
right, that's the thing — the doctor is in the room for like 10 min
Following, also wondering about this for after-care instructions, those seemed really important to understand properly