• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.56-63
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• 2012

Objectives: To undertake manpower-related improvements based on a comparison between specialists in the traditional Korean medicine hospitals(TKMH) and their counterparts in Western medicine Methods: A survey of the TKMH based on questionnaire sheets dispatched to them by mail(57 of 142 responded) in the June December, 2008 period, and on almanac statistics provided by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs of Korean Government. Results: Overall, the workforce engaged in the traditional Korean medicine hospitals comprises traditional Korean medical doctors(28%), nurses(23%), administrative staffs(19%), assistant nurses(9%), medical record keepers(2%), nutritionists(2%), herbal pharmacists(1%), and others(16%). Each hospital has 16.5 traditional Korean medical doctors on average, which can be broken down into 6.2 specialists, 1.3 generalists, and 9.3 residents/interns. Only 10.7% of whole of traditional Korean medical doctors work in the hospitals, compared to 54.5% of Western medicine doctors. The ratio of traditional Korean medical doctors to the entirety of employees in the TKMH is 2.5 times higher than their Western medicine counterparts, while the ratio of medical technicians to the entire employees in the TKMH is 20 times lower than in the Western medicine counterparts. Conclusions: To provide more qualified medical service in the TKMH, they will be required to increase the proportion of non medical doctor employees, like Western medicine counterparts.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to assess Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) doctors' awareness and utilization of the case report, based on the opinion that careful observation on the case sometimes provides us with the important information as clinical trial especially in the traditional medicine research field. Methods : A questionnaire study was conducted among TKM doctors who participated in the annual continuous maintenance education (CME) held at 5 regions of the Republic of Korea. Results : Almost 60% of the respondents had read case reports published in medical journals and 67% had openly shared their clinical cases with their colleagues. Of the respondents, 18.6% had been educated on reporting cases, and only 16% had the experience of reporting cases on one's own. However, 32.6% of the respondents had the intention to report cases in the future. These results show significant differences between general physicians who holds a license but no hospital training experience and board certified TKM doctors who have training experience. Conclusions : A majority of TKM doctors have read case reports but holds little experience of having been properly trained. Through this research, it has been found that awareness of case reports is rising in hospital training. Thus, the objective of case report education for TKM doctors who have hospital training experience should be set on encouraging them to do more whereas for doctors without hospital training experience, the objective should be set on making them more exposed to case reports to heighten one's awareness.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2013

Korean medical journals were continuously published during the period of Japanese colonization of Korea. Various advertisements by herbal drugs manufacturers were in these journals, targeting Korean medical doctors or students who aspired to be Korean medical doctors. The advertisements varied from small ones to large-scale ads. At first these advertisements covered only dried herbs, but with time, they came to advertise various kinds of drugs. Advertisement of merchandise drugs brought many changes to the medical culture of Korea. Korean medical doctors who only prescribed dried herbs before began to prescribe merchandise drugs as well. When treating patients, they not only used Korean drugs but also actively prescribed merchandise drugs and western drugs, showing an advancement in treatment. As Korean medical doctors played the role of providers of merchandise drugs, herbal drugs manufacturers and Korean medical doctors seemed as sellers and consumers on the surface. However, they maintained a relationship where Korean medicine worked as the common denominator. Among merchandise drugs, Yoeng-so-hwan, Bi-jeon-go, and Myeol-dok-hwan were advertised often, and this shows that people at the time suffered mostly from digestive diseases, skin diseases, and sexually transmitted diseases. Herbal drugs manufacturers were business managers whose main objective was to make a good profit, but they consisted a part of Korean medical society. Like Korean medical doctors, they were anxious about the fall of Korean medicine. As a part of popularization of Korean medicine, they encouraged Korean medical doctors to treat patients using herbal drugs and merchandise drugs. This thought was reflected well in advertisements and Korean medical doctors made use of this thought well.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.89-99
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• 2022

The figures listed under the title of 'Photo Insert' in 『HanBangEuiYakGye』 No.2 are all those who were engaged in East Asian medicine, but they can be divided into several groups depending on the areas in which they were more focused. First, he served as a royal physician at the end of the Joseon Dynasty, or was an oriental medical doctor with outstanding medical skills during the family service. Second, he is an East Asian medicine doctor who established a school for Korean medicine education or conducted various academic activities. Third, he is an East Asian medical doctor who worked hard to lead a group of East Asian medical doctors by organizing Korean medical doctors. Looking at the reality of the oppression of ethnic medicine committed by the Japanese colonial government, they continued to seek a way to live in national medicine, which played a major role in continuing the existence of Korean medicine without destroying it. In this paper, we analyzed the 13 Korean medical doctors introduced in the "Photo Insertion" and examined the activities of modern and contemporary East Asian medical doctors.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 2023

Objectives: Discussions regarding "medical blind spots" in Korea's "aging society" are continuously rising. In addition, the demand for medical attention and care for the elderly and vulnerable populations continues to increase. Given this, the government is promoting the "home healthcare service" project. This study aims to lay the foundation for promoting this project by investigating the perception of clinical Korean Medicine (KM) doctors in the "community health care" project. Methods: With the cooperation of the Association of Korean Medicine, we sent a questionnaire to all KM doctors through e-mail. The survey included personal information, awareness, appropriate disease and intervention, proper visit location, and pros and cons. Results: A total of 602 responses were collected and analyzed. Approximately 20% of the doctors answered that they were well aware of the service, while 55% responded that they did not know about it. For a visit, a KM doctor selected the appropriate diseases in the order of stroke, dementia and Parkinson's disease, osteoarthritis, and chronic diseases. Among treatments, acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbal medicine exhibited similar results. The most common opinion was that KM doctors should schedule their visits once a week for 6-12 months, which was the most prolonged period among the given options. More than 80% (84.1%) of the doctors replied that care projects were highly essential, and about 63.8% expressed their willingness to participate in these projects. Conclusion: To provide appropriate home health care, we must raise awareness among Korean medicine doctors. In addition, the healthcare budget must be increased to provide the required support.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 2021

In modern society, doctors are a representative example of professionals-that is, doctors are members of an occupation with high barriers to entry. For doctors, long-term education, training, and licensing are factors that make it difficult to enter medical practice. These external characteristics, which have mainly arisen in the modern era, play an important part in the professional identity of doctors. Nonetheless, the core of the doctor's identity is the identity of the healer. In today's Korean society, the universal identity of doctors as healers results from a combination of the special historical identity of professionals with high entry barriers. Korean society currently demands a high level of ethical awareness from doctors. These demands are partly derived from the nature of the practice of medical care, but they also reflect demands for strong social responsibility as professionals. It is difficult to cultivate professional ethics simply by imposing legitimate virtues, presenting an ideal model, or emphasizing moral education that is not fully realistic. A deep-rooted sense of professional ethics stems from a clear awareness of professional identity. Education plays an important role in the formation and awareness of doctors' professional identity, and various types of content and methods can be used in education. However, since the identity of an entity is formed through the process of historical experience, it is thought that the historical process of the formation of doctors as a profession should be included as an important part of education.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.89-105
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was carried out to know the status of clinical utilization of Korean medical knowledge and the Korean medical knowledge system which Korean medical doctors want. Methods : Questionnaires were distributed to Korean medical doctors registered for the Association of Korean medicine via the email and 249 answered questionnaires were analyzed. Results : 50.6 % of Korean medical doctors utilized the textbooks for Korean medicine when they treated their patients. The reason why they did not utilize the textbooks for Korean medicine was mostly that 'it could not be applied directly into clinical application with only contents of textbook because clinical approach (diagnosis and treatment methods) was not clearly described in the textbook'. 48.6 % of Korean medical doctors utilized the EBM materials when they treated their patients. EBM materials that they referred included domestic articles, other EBM materials excluding papers and international academic papers based on PubMed in order. The reasons why they did not utilize the EBM materials were mostly that 'it was difficult to find the evidence' and 'EBM materials were not actually helpful for the clinical practice.' It was found that Korean medical doctors approached the disease in aspects of Korean and Western Medicine concurrently upon the diagnosis of patients and performed the diagnosis and treatment of Korean medicine on the diseases which seemed to be effective with Korean medicine. It was also found that they thought that they needed to know the Western medical knowledge as much as general doctors who have a doctor's license or family medicine specialists who comprehensively treat the general diseases know. Korean medical doctors wanted to have the systematic summary of modern research performance in fields of acupoint, acupuncture, herbal drugs and formula. They thought that constitutional medicine and Sa-am acupuncture therapy were representative characteristics in Korean medicine differentiated from Traditional Chinese medicine and Kampo medicine. Conclusions : Korean medical doctors wanted to establish the Korean medical knowledge system based on evidence focusing on clinical and practical contents. New Korean medical knowledge system should be established based on these requirements in the future.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.57-66
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• 2015

Objective : This study aims to investigate the priority of education needs of managerial competencies for Korean Medicine doctors. Method : Self-administered questionnaires were sent via on-line survey system to 4,107 Korean Medicine (KM) doctors who were registered in the Association of Korean Medicine and whose business places were in Seoul. The cognition of necessities, present levels, and future importance of managerial competencies were measured. To measure the degree of educational needs on health management, t-test and Borich method were used. Results : The response rate was 1.9%(79 persons) and 68 responses were included in the analysis. The cost-effectiveness studying ability and the public relations ability were the most important competencies. Analyzing the competency groups by t-test and Borich method, the marketing group was the most important competency group. Many KM doctors (53 persons; 68.9%) who answered this questionnaire expressed needs of the business administration course. Conclusion : KM doctors conceded the necessity of business competency to manage their hospitals or clinics. Academic institutions needs to consider the implementation of business administration courses for KM students in accordance with needs of the managerial competencies.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2012

Background : With the increase of cooperative practices (CP) between conventional western medicine and traditional Korean medicine, there have been lots of researches on the status of CP and the attitude of doctors. Objective : Since most of the research is cross-sectional, this study aims to figure out the changes in the attitude of doctors toward CP through systematic review. Method : Systematic literature searches were performed on several databases in Korea. They were categorized according to the respondents and question items and analyzed by the context of questions, similarity of respondents and measurement scale. And we analyzed the changes of response regarding to doctors' awareness and attitude to CP. Results : Thirteen survey studies including attitude of doctors toward CP were selected. These studies were conducted between 1997 and 2009 and the number of respondents of each study ranged from 20 to 702. There has been increasing awareness of CP among doctors ; however the positive responses on the necessity of CP has decreased. Regarding the type of illness effectively treated employing CP, there was a shift from neurovascular to musculoskeletal and immune diseases. Most of the studies listed different approaches to disease, prejudice of health care providers and inadequate legal system as major obstacles against CP. Conclusion : In spite of the increase of CP in the last 20 years, there has not been marked positive change in the doctors' attitude toward CP. To promote CP, it is required to confirm the effectiveness of CP through disease models and change the medical legislation policies on CP.

• Journal of Convergence Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 2024

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the clinical validity of the system by conducting a clinical study to assess the diagnostic agreement between the system and Korean medical doctors. Methods: This study was conducted from September 7, 2023, to December 7, 2023, across five Korean medicine institutions, involving 100 adult participants aged 20-64 who consented to participate. Participants first entered their symptoms into a web-based program, which utilized an AI-based algorithm to diagnose 36 types of pattern differentiation. Subsequently, Korean medical doctors conducted face-to-face diagnoses using the same 36 types. The diagnostic agreement between the system and the doctors' diagnoses was analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis, and the results were expressed as a percentage agreement. Results: Analysis of the diagnostic data from 100 participants revealed that the web-based diagnosis support system identified an average of 7.76±0.79 patterns per patient, while Korean medical doctors identified an average of 7.99±0.10 patterns per patient. The diagnostic agreement between the system and the doctors showed an average of 7.08±1.08 patterns per patient, with an overall diagnostic agreement rate of 88.57±13.31%. Conclusion: This study developed a web-based diagnosis support system for traditional Korean medicine and evaluated its clinical validity by assessing diagnostic agreement. Comparing the diagnoses of the system with those of Korean medical doctors for 100 patients, the system showed an approximately 89% agreement rate with the clinical diagnoses. The system holds potential for aiding Korean medical doctors in pattern differentiation diagnosis in clinical practice.