Q. Is it possible to receive a non-face-to-face prescription for diet herbal medicine in Daejeon? I'm curious about how it works without an in-person visit.

You're likely curious about non-face-to-face herbal prescriptions—I was too. The biggest advantage is freedom from time and location, which is especially convenient for busy office workers. For follow-ups or maintenance phases, non-face-to-face consultations are often fully feasible. However, there are clear drawbacks. One of the most important diagnostic methods in Korean Medicine is pulse diagnosis (脈診), which is impossible remotely. While inquiry and tongue diagnosis (舌診) can partially substitute, diet herbal medicine requires very detailed pattern identification (辨證), such as spleen deficiency (脾虛), phlegm-rheum (痰飮), or blood stasis (瘀血). Without pulse palpation, distinguishing deficiency (虛) from excess (實) or heat (熱) from cold (寒) becomes ambiguous. In my experience with past non-face-to-face cases, there were times I thought, 'If I had seen the patient in person, the prescription would have been different.' In conclusion, it depends on the situation. For initial visits or complex conditions, an in-person consultation is strongly recommended. Conversely, if you have previously received treatment with a well-suited prescription and are simply maintaining, non-face-to-face may be a viable option. If you feel uncertain, it's fine to visit for a consultation first and decide afterward.