Can the health check be done post-arrival?

Hello, everyone. This is a question I have asked my employer, but because of time difference, I won’t get an answer until tomorrow and I need to find this out today, if possible. For reference, I live in the UK.

The pre-employment health check – can it be done on arrival, or does it need to be done prior to departure? The problem is that the NHS is absolutely broken and I can’t get a referral for certain examinations on the form for up to two weeks (my GP has said he cannot carry out procedures like the chest x-ray), but I’m due to fly out next weekend (they only sprung the form on me today). I can go private, but that’d cost an arm and a leg.

Any advice/insights?

2 comments
  1. Assuming you’re talking about the health check required for ALTs before they go to work in a school: Yes, you can do it in Japan, *if you have time*.

    Your first couple weeks will be busy with Orientation & Training, and you’ll be living out of a hotel, without a lot of travel options or spare time.

    Depending on your schools/dispatch company/luck, you might have a few days of “settling in” time between training and starting at the school. ***If*** you have free days, you can hustle to the neighborhood clinic and get the check done easily and cheaply. “*If”* being the operative word. Some ALTs have a couple weeks of free time, others have <24 hours. So you really should try to get it done in advance, because technically you’re not allowed to set foot in a school without that check and if you’re in the unlucky <24hrs category you’re going to have a very unhappy supervisor if you tell them you still need to do the check.

  2. Hi! Same boat, more or less. Similar to the previous answer, they said it was fine to get it done in Japan, but I’m actually in a weird sitution where I’ll be getting some done here and some done in Japan 🤷‍♀️ Time is also an issue as I don’t think I have any time at all between training and starting the job, but the email correspondence I had seemed to indicate that they’d make it work, one way or another lol

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