Being adopted
Dear Dr. P,
How can we help our adopted children cope with being brought over to this country without them having any real control over the situation? Also, do you think it’s a good idea to let them decide to search for their birth parents or should we initiate the search? My personal opinion is that they deserve to know their biological parents...what do you think? I know this is a hard question. Thank you so much.
Dear parents,
I would like to extend my appreciation to you for adopting and nurturing Korean children. I was touched by the fact that you would go as far as finding the birth parents of your adopted children.
However, it is ultimately the children’s decision to find or not to find their biological parents. On that note, you need to ask your children about their intentions. But since I do not know the age of your children, I can’t give you a direct answer.
If your children are young, rather than looking for their parents, it might be more important for you to just care for and nurture them. If your children are doing just fine in your care, at such a young age it could induce feelings of anxiety and vulnerability to search for their birth parents.
With that said, rather than you trying to search for their biological parents, it might be best for you to wait until your children express that they want to look for them.
Until then, it is a good idea to educate your children on Korean history, culture, and even the Korean language. If they can understand more about Korea through these things, it could be less of a shock to them later on if they do meet their birth parents.
I hope that the love and interest that you show in your children will make them good people.
Greetings Dr. P,
I’m a first year family medicine resident here in Canada. I have always wanted to experience living in Korea even before I got into medical school. Now I’m wondering if I would be able to work as a doctor there after my residency. I have read your previous response to a post about the Korean government allowing foreign doctors to treat foreigners as long as they had their licenses from their home country (I do not think I can take the Korean licensing exam.) I’m wondering if this is still happening now. If so, how do they get hired? I still have 2 years to go in my residency, so I wanted to take steps now, if there are certain things I need to do.
If finding a job is not possible, is there any fellowship training for foreign doctors that you know of in Korea that I can apply for? I actually have a special interest in migrants and their health issues, as we have many here in Canada so I don’t mind treating foreigners in Korea. I’m also interested in psychotherapy. Here in Canada, family physicians can go for a year fellowship in psychotherapy. I was wondering if there is anything like that available in Korea. Thank you for your time and I would greatly appreciate any information.
Dear Sender,
First off, I admire your will to work as a medical doctor in unfamiliar foreign county. The Korean government already has made a plan for international special business district in Songdo of Icheon City, the 2nd largest port near Seoul. Now they are trying to invite the foreign capitals as much as they can.
Among them, there are some plans to invite the famous institutes, foreign schools, and general hospitals for foreigners. For example, they succeeded in the invitation of the Headquarters of Green Climate Fund recently. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the most famous university hospitals in the United States, also has a plan to open a branch hospital in this district in 2014.
This hospital is a special hospital for foreigners in this district, and foreign doctors who don’t have the Korean license like you can work for the hospital. In your case, it will take about two years until you finish your residency program, and the opening of the hospital will be determined around the time. Please track the progress of the plan continuously, and apply to the hospital when it is possible. I wish you the best of luck!
Park Jin-seng is a psychiatrist who runs a clinic for foreigners in Seoul and operates personal therapist forums on www.lifeinkorea.com. Please submit questions for Park to mdoctor@korea.com or call the hotline at 02-563-0678.