WIA Trip

Coordinator guide

Companion coordinator guide

Please read this once before you are approved, and again the night before your first assignment.

1. What you do

• Airport pickup — meet at the arrivals gate and get them to the accommodation
• Accommodation — check-in, where the nearest convenience store and pharmacy are
• Hospital appointments — registration, waiting, confirming the next booking
• Recovery checks — pass on swelling and pain to the hospital in the patient’s own words
• After they fly home — check in on the agreed date

2. What you do not do (contract art. 6(3), 6(5), 7(3))

• No medical judgement. "I think this one would be better" is a medical judgement.
• No promises. "You’ll be fine" is a promise.
• Never shorten or add to the doctor’s explanation. Summarising is changing it.

3. Using AI interpreting apps

A smartphone is enough. Use whichever you are comfortable with — ChatGPT voice mode, Claude, or Google live translate.

Airport pickup — the first five minutes

Turn on voice mode and use the speaker. The patient speaks their language and hears you back in it. Memorising just the opening greeting makes this much easier.

Meals and getting around

Camera translation is fastest for menus. Always ask about allergies and religious restrictions (halal and so on) first.

Hospital registration and waiting

At the desk you only need the patient name and appointment time to be exact. If the hospital hands over forms while waiting, translate and read them out — but the patient signs only after they have understood.

Recovery phone calls

Pass on pain, swelling and fever in the patient’s own words. "They say it hurts a bit" strips out what the hospital needs to judge.

4. The hour when surgical consent is taken — no AI

5. For Korean coordinators

You do not need the patient’s language. For the consent meeting, do this.

• First ask the hospital’s patient coordinator whether a staff member speaks the language.
• If not, contact the administrator to bring in a remote interpreter (we do this by phone).
• If neither works, do not proceed with consent — tell the administrator. Postponing is correct.

6. Personal data (contract art. 12(3))

• Never save patient photos on your personal phone.
• Never save patient contacts in your personal address book. Delete them when the assignment ends.
• Never pass patient information through KakaoTalk or LINE. Report only via the portal and Telegram.

We hold to the same rule — an assignment offer contains no patient photo and no quoted price.

7. Pay

• Base 120,000 KRW (15,000/hour × 8 hours), fixed when the assignment reaches the surgery stage.
• If the case closes, 5% of our commission is added. Per case this usually lands at 140,000–280,000 KRW.
• At the start, 1–3 cases a month.
• The incentive is fixed after the clinic settlement is confirmed. Until then the portal shows the base only.
• Bank details are not registered in the system. Payment is arranged separately.

8. How assignments are ordered

When several coordinators cover one language, the offer goes to the higher score first.

• Completion rate — how many assignments you took through to the end (50%)
• Response speed — how long from offer to acceptance (30%)
• Activity over the last 30 days (20%)
• A bonus for native speakers of the language

New coordinators start at the middle score, not at zero.

9. By residence status

• Free to work — Korean nationals, F-5 permanent residence, F-6 marriage, F-2 residence
• Part-time work permit required — D-2 study, D-4 training. Up to 20 hours a week during term.
• Cannot take part — E-9 and other designated-workplace visas. Working elsewhere is unlawful.

10. When something goes wrong

If you are unsure, stop and ask before acting. Being late costs far less than being wrong.

• Write it straight into the Telegram bot chat and it reaches the administrator.
• If it concerns patient safety, call 119 first. Contact us second.