A foreign prescription is useful treatment information to bring to a Korean consultation, but it is not a prescription a Korean pharmacy can simply fill. Both Samsung Medical Center and Asan Medical Center direct patients with foreign prescriptions to see a doctor for local prescribing. Plan the consultation and check the subsequent supply arrangements before relying on obtaining more of your existing medicine in Korea.
Bring the medicine details and original label
Use the information already recorded by your prescriber and on the original label. Samsung Medical Center’s outpatient preparation page asks patients to bring medicines with labels or prescriptions. Bring the originals alongside any translation or summary.
Use this list to prepare for the consultation; it does not give instructions to change treatment:
| Information already recorded | What to bring or note |
|---|---|
| Medicine name | Brand name and active ingredient, if stated on the record or packaging |
| Strength and form | The exact strength and whether it is a tablet, injection, inhaler, or another form |
| Prescribed directions | The existing written directions and the date of the prescription |
| Current treatment context | The prescribing provider and relevant treatment summary |
| Supply question | The amount remaining and the dates for which you need the clinician’s advice |
Leave unclear names or directions marked as questions. Do not guess an ingredient from a similar-looking product name. The overseas medical-record preparation guide helps keep the original record, language, and requested material together.
Arrange a consultation for local prescribing
Samsung’s prescription FAQ says a valid local prescription and an in-person doctor consultation are needed for prescription medicine, including a new prescription for medicine already being taken. Asan’s FAQ likewise says its patients cannot have a foreign prescription filled directly at a pharmacy.
When requesting the consultation, describe it as a question about continuation of an existing treatment. Give the recorded medicine information, the relevant history, and your intended visit dates through the provider’s own intake process. Ask whether the requested assessment can be arranged and what records are needed.
Even a confirmed appointment does not guarantee that a particular medicine or quantity will be prescribed. The clinician must assess your request, including whether to continue the treatment you receive elsewhere.
Check the appointment, prescription, and pharmacy collection separately
Before relying on a refill, check each of these:
- Consultation: Has a suitable appointment actually been confirmed, and what information should you bring?
- Prescribing: What has the clinician decided after assessment, and what prescription or further step has been issued?
- Dispensing: Can the pharmacy handle that actual prescription, and what collection arrangement has it confirmed?
If a medicine’s identity, local availability, or a proposed alternative is unresolved, take that question to the clinician and pharmacist. Another brand, formulation, strength, or medicine should not be treated as equivalent based on this checklist.
Tell your treating team how much medicine you have left and ask what to do next before it runs out. This article does not set a safe interruption period or tell you to stop, ration, or substitute a medicine. If the situation is a medical emergency, use 119 for emergency assistance rather than waiting for a routine refill enquiry.
Save the advice and next steps
A short note can help you follow up on unanswered questions:
Existing treatment: [medicine details from the original record]
Consultation: [requested or confirmed date and provider]
Clinical decision: [what the clinician has actually advised]
Supply arrangement: [confirmed pharmacy step, or question still unresolved]
Next action: [who will reply or assess the outstanding issue]
For the first message, use the hospital appointment enquiry guide. Once you have a Korean prescription, the post-consultation pharmacy guide covers collection location, the prescription deadline, separate payments, and understandable medicine instructions. Those later steps should be based on the prescription actually issued.