The COVID-19 pandemic has put even the world’s best public health systems in shambles. In the time of the chaos, nothing mattered more than the ways in which we responded to those circumstances. Only a handful of countries were able to come out of the pandemic stronger; and South Korea was one of them. The country managed to keep the outbreak of the virus under control and was ranked fifth in the world for its resilience against the virus outbreak.

Even prior to the global catastrophe that shut down numerous businesses, transport routes, and communications in and between cities around the world, South Korea stood out to the world. It is known as one of the most outstanding destinations for medical and healthcare tourism. Its cost is relatively lower in comparison with Asian countries like Thailand which offer similar or even higher quality services.

South Korea is therefore an appealing destination for those who seek interest in the medical field to start their internship experiences.

Here are our top picks for why you should do your medical internship in South Korea!

Technology

In South Korea, you can find anything from digitized hospitals to telehealth consultation and healthcare mobile applications that operate on voice recognition. I mean you would not expect anything less from one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies that so happens to be the producer of one of the greatest technology companies in the world (hint: not Apple).

That’s not all, South Korea does not stop at ‘digitized hospitals’ (—of course). The country is integrating artificial intelligence and robots in sectors outside the medical sectors like hospitality and manufacturing.

South Korea is not only one of the leading technological producers but they were 2021’s most creative country in the world, according to the Bloomberg Index. For this reason, South Korea is able to train current and future medical practitioners with their the most advanced medical innovations yet! As we speak, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) and European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) are collaborating on a joint project to implement blockchain technologies to help secure, transfer, and analyze big data.

Interning in South Korea means that you will have more time to study new technologies at a much greater depth than others because unless you are already in the field, the chances of you getting your hands on these technologies are slim. Thus, an internship in the medical industry will give you a valuable hard skill that companies are looking for! They could be the one thing that differentiates you from the crowd.

Public And Private Funding

Let’s take a step back to look at the state of the country’s medical industry in 1977. South Korea was pretty much the polar opposite of what it is in the present. The only available option was voluntary health insurance. Despite not being a novel practice in the world today, South Korea’s pre-1977 voluntary health insurance spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e for impoverished Korea since as little as 10% of the entire health care services were provided by the public sector —- with the remaining 90% were for-profits.

Those historical traces are not visible in the current Korean society. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) has upped their investment in public health to 8.4% of its GDP from 5.9% in 2010. The amount is being distributed to various areas of responsibility such as facilities, medical equipment, policies, and medical research. To get an insight into how quickly plans are being carried out in South Korea, National Health Insurance, one of the country’s most prided medical schemes, was achieved in the span of 12 years.

(Source: Arseny Toguley on Unsplash)

Support for the medical industry does not come from the public sector alone. Private companies i.e. the country’s leading tech giants like Celltrion, Samsung Biologics, and Daewoong Pharmaceuticals are also present in South Korea. In addition to financial funding, these private corporations bring in efficient and innovative solutions to the table, which could help accelerate the development of South Korea’s medical industry even more.

Having said that, opportunities for career growth are ample in South Korea. An upward trend in public spending on the medical and healthcare industry is predicted to continue to foster in years and decades to come. Budgets are now being planned out, ready to forge new paths for domestic and international talents alike to create safe and healthy environments for South Korea and the world.

Coworkers And Connections

Constant communications are nothing new to the medical field since they are key to successful operations. Nurturing relationships with amiable, intelligent and diligent coworkers proves to be beneficial to the development of your career since they are extremely crucial and fundamental building blocks in traditional Korean work culture that remains relevant today.

Once you have established a successful friendship with your Korean coworkers, that friendship has a high chance of lasting for a very long time. This offers an opportunity to create lasting relationships with them for personal and professional reasons. Future exchanges of information, knowledge, and ideas would be manageable — and with ease! It’s always good to have someone whom you can always count on!

A medical internship in South Korea is an option for you to start building long lasting relationships with your Korean coworkers as you start to build your reputation, interact and meet new people which would also plays a part in expanding your opportunity when it comes to your personal future career paths.

That wraps up why you should intern in the medical industry in South Korea! We hope that you find the article useful!

Motivated to start a medical internship in South Korea? Don’t let this opportunity to transform the course of your career. Apply to AIP today!

AIP offers customized international internships in various fields and destinations around the world. To find out more about our internship opportunities, visit our website here and follow us on our social media!

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