• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.427-453
• /
• 2009

This study aims to review legal problems of similar medical practice and suggest methods of improvement. Similar medical practice refers to all medical practices conducted in the state that human qualification is not fulfilled. It may cause serious damages on health and lives of national people. Currently, similar medical practices are recognized as unlicensed medical practices and prohibited based on the Medical law and additionally punished by then special law in Korea. However, the current Medical Law does not provide clear and accurate concept of medical practices so that it is difficult to regulate similar medical practices. The issue of complementary and alternative therapy related to similar medical practices is also in special state different from other countries. In addition, since similar medical practices lack of evidences in terms of safety, the dangerousness of accidents is high and it may affect badly on health of national people and health care policies. Methods of improvement in order to resolve problems regarding similar medical practices are: first, concept and scope of medical practice should be clear, accurate and concrete. Second, complementary and alternative therapies related to similar medical practices need to be strictly examined and the supervisory right should be given to doctors should be given even though a part of it is allowed. Third, research institutes specialized in the field should be established for scientific examination of complementary and alternative therapy and objective research results should be open to the public. Finally, since damage cases caused by similar medical practices by non-medical personnel, national management and supervision for similar medical practices should be reinforced.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.337-361
• /
• 2010

In the case of Korea, both of modern medicine and oriental medicine are admitted as medical practices in the system. In other words, healthcare system is dualized. However, medical practice that corresponds to oriental medicine in Korea is substitution of medical practice in cases of foreign countries. For use of medical devices, it is provided only for doctors and medical technician relevant to use. Particularly, although oriental medicine is recognized as orthodox medicine in terms of the features of Korean medical system, superintendency of oriental doctors is not identical with that of doctors for use of medical devices and superintendency toward medical technicians. Recently, Cheongju District Court decided that superintendency of oriental doctor upon physical therapist is not acknowledged. It can be said that the judgement is opposed to the original verdict which judged that oriental doctors' employment and guidance of oriental doctors upon physical therapist is permissible. Hence this study aimed to review on domestic medical law system, which is dualized, roles of medical professionals, intent of the medical license system, provisions related to medical technician law and relevant precedents. Regulations on practices other than licensed practices by medical professionals are made because medical practices may affect on danger toward life and body of human and public health also. Therefore, the nation regulates medical professionals having licenses to perform medical practices within the range of the licenses. It is clearly prescribed that medical technicians may perform medical practices under instructions of doctors or dentists pursuant to the medical technician law. In addition, the court also judges that it is out of the license of oriental doctors if they use CT devices and limits the use of modern medical devices by oriental doctors. That is to say that it limits oriental doctors' employment of medical technicians and pursuant of oriental doctors on medical technicians as well.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
• /
• v.33 no.46
• /
• pp.287.1-287.14
• /
• 2018

Integrity of authorship and peer review practices are important considerations for ethical publishing. Criteria for authorship, as delineated in the guidelines by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), have undergone evolution over the decades, and now require fulfillment of four criteria, including the need to be able to take responsibility for all aspects of the manuscript in question. Although such updated authorship criteria were published nearly five years ago, still, many major medical and specialist journals have yet to revise their author instructions to conform to this. Inappropriate authorship practices may include gift, guest or ghost authorship. Existing literature suggests that such practices are still widely prevalent, especially in non-English speaking countries. Another emerging problem is that of peer review fraud, mostly by authors, but also rarely by handling editors. There is literature to suggest that a proportion of such fake peer review may be driven by the support of some unscrupulous external editing agencies. Such inappropriate practices with authorship malpractices or disagreement, or peer review fraud, have resulted in more than 600 retractions each, as identified on the retractions database of Retractionwatch.com. There is a need to generate greater awareness, especially in authors from non-English speaking regions of the world, about inappropriate authorship and unethical practices in peer review. Also, support of any external editing agency should be clearly disclosed by authors at the time of submission of a manuscript.

• Korean Medical Education Review
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.99-105
• /
• 2016

The purpose of this study was to inquire into the knowledge of medical students on the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and evaluate whether infection prevention education impacts students' level of knowledge and individual hygiene practices. This study also investigated the route by which medical students obtain disease-related information. The study involved a survey conducted in August of 2015 at two medical schools in Busan. In the first year to fourth year, a total of 345 students are enrolled (111 students in A school and 234 students in B school). Before the study was carried out, university A performed infection prevention education related to MERS, but B did not. We used self-developed questionnaires to survey the demographic characteristics, routes of acquisition of MERS information, degree of knowledge of MERS, educational satisfaction, and personal hygiene practices before and after education. Knowledge level differences according to gender and year in school were not statistically significant. Students obtained their information about MERS from various news media sources and the Internet, and through social network sites. Students practiced sanitary control behaviors in an average of 2.2 manners (standard deviation=0.95). The level of knowledge of MERS revealed a positive correlation with the frequency and total numbers of personal hygiene practices. This finding suggests that the infection prevention education program played a role in knowledge acquisition and personal hygiene practices for the medical students. In order to provide accurate and reliable knowledge of disease and preventive health behavior to medical students, continuous and well-planned education programs are necessary.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.99-113
• /
• 2008

In order to protect Rescue 119 workers exposed on the spot from potential infection, this study identified their awareness and practices of infection control so that it could help preventing them from infection and also provide basic materials necessary for pre-hospital infection control. This study applied questionnaire survey to total 215 Rescue 119 workers at fire stations in Jeonbuk province, Jeonnam province and Gwangju city from July 14 to Sept. 14, 2006 for the benefit of data collection. The questionnaire about possible associations between awareness and practices of infection control consisted of total 46 times across 6 categories such as washing hands during emergency activities ; fluid therapy and injection ; respirator maintenance; individual hygienics ; disinfectant supplies and equipments maintenance ; and control of infectious wastes. And collected data were processed using SPSS statistic program to analyze frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation, Pearson's correlation coefficient, t-test and one-way ANOVA. As a result, this study came to the following conclusions : In terms of awareness about infection control, our respondents showed highest awareness about infectious waste control, and also showed highest level of practices in washing hands during emergency activities. Throughout all domains, awareness means were higher than practice means. In particular, infectious waste control was the domain of significant differences between awareness and practices. In terms of associations between awareness and individual characteristics, it was found that female rescue worker group and hospital/general hospital career group (before joining the Rescue 119) showed significantly higher awareness on statistic level. In regard to associations between individual characteristics and practices, it was found that female rescue worker group showed higher level of practices than male group on statistic level. This study also analyzed correlations between rescue workers' awareness and practice of infection control. As a result, it was found that the higher awareness was in correlations with the higher practices across all 6 domains including washing hands. In addition, the higher awareness of a questionnaire item was in significantly positive correlations with the higher practice of other items. However, our respondents showed high awareness about anti-infection, but low practices in reality. This indicates necessity of devising possible solutions to improve the practices as much as awareness. Especially, it was noted that major reasons for insufficient practices of infection control guideline come from unhabituated practices and lack of supports for infection-preventing supplies and protective device (mask, etc). Hence, it is necessary to provide more infection-preventing supplies for local rescue workers sufficiently, in parallel with steady habituation of infection control. Furthermore, it is required to manage and study infection control policies even at pre-hospital step in efforts for effective infection control, education and activities.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2013

This study examines the meaning of classical texts in contemporary society. Drawing on an anthropological investigation of Somun Hakhoe, an association of Korean medicine doctors in South Korea, and its foundational text "Somun Daeyo", the present study explores the interconnectedness of medical texts and medico-social practices in bringing medical tradition into the contemporary era. The themes that author Lee Kyu-joon emphasizes in "Somun Daeyo" are thoroughly embodied in Somun Hakhoe's medico-social practices, such as the study activities based on "Somun Daeyo"(in particular, on Somun Buseol, the five articles written by the author, attached to "Somun Daeyo"), the focus on Buyang theory(扶陽論), and the distinctive feature of composing formula. The ethnographic data collected about the group activities of Somun Hakhoe also demonstrate that the social relationship of the teacher and disciples plays an important role in bringing East Asian medicine into the present. This study articulates the significance of the interaction between the classical text and the medico-social practices around it. The dynamism taking place in the interaction points to the "living tradition" actively flowing rather than being static in the past. This study illustrates the close relationship between medical history and medical anthropology and encourages more studies of classical texts based on the intimate relationship between the two disciplines.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.41-53
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study tests the validity of a standard evaluation tool of ambulance ride practices with new evaluation items and supports its application by 119 preceptors. Methods: We tested the validity of standard evaluation items collected from 19 on-site professionals assessing ambulance ride practices. New evaluation items, 'understanding of emergency rescue equipment' and 'ability to communicate', were added as additional criteria. The modified Delphi technique was used to test the three evaluation areas and ten evaluation items. We used the analytic hierarchy process to analyze the weighting value of the reconstructed evaluation tool model. Results: All three evaluation areas and 10 evaluation items within the standard evaluation tools used for ambulance ride practices corresponded with the consistency index, degree of convergence, and agreement in the modified Delphi panel. Conclusion: These results provide evidence of the consistency and usefulness behind preceptors' use of this standard evaluation tool in ambulance ride practice.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.29-41
• /
• 2009

Objectives : This study was performed to compare consciousness of doctors on cooperative practices of western medicine and traditional Korean medicine, and to provide policy implication for development of cooperative practices. Methods : The structured questionnaires were mailed to 132 doctors working in non-cooperative practicing university hospital and 77 doctors working in cooperative practicing hospitals in Busan metropolitan city. The response rate was 40.2% and 40.3% respectively. This survey was performed from 10 Oct. 2008 to 31 Oct. 2008. Results : The doctors working in general hospital had comparatively negative consciousness on basic concept, value and necessity for cooperative practices and traditional Korean medicine. In regards with disease treatment's effectiveness of cooperative practices, both groups evaluated musculoskeletal and immune disease were more effective than others. There were positive relationships between perception for cost-effectiveness and consciousness on intention to participate cooperative practices(p<0.05). Also doctors who experienced traditional medicine treatment had positive consciousness on cooperative practices(p=0.05). Conclusions : To activate cooperative practices of western medicine and traditional Korean medicine, some efforts should be carried out. These include promoting cooperative education programs in medical schools and traditional Korean medical schools, doing research on cost-effectiveness of cooperative practices, and trying to minimize legal and systemic restrictions for cooperative practices.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.211-219
• /
• 2019

Since improper management practices of solid medical waste (SMW) could potentially result in serious health risks and environmental problems, it is very important to properly treat and dispose of the medical wastes. In this study, current practices of SMW management from storage to final disposal stage in 12 health care facilities (HCFs) of Burundi were investigated using the official government reports. The results showed that 75% and 92% of HCFs used uncovered wheelbarrows and trucks for on-site or off-site SMW transportation, respectively, indicating that most transportation equipment and waste workers are not safely protected. The results also showed that 92.8% of SMW (15,736.4 ton) from all 12 HCFs were inappropriately disposed of through uncontrolled land disposal and incineration. If pharmaceutical wastes and discarded medical plastics (29.5% of SMW) can be separated and treated properly, the treatment costs can be reduced and resource savings can be achieved. Raising awareness of healthcare workers and general public about potential health effects arising from improper SMW management, sufficient financial and human resources for the treatment facilities (especially incinerators), and effective regulations and guidelines for transportation and treatment of SWM are some of the major tasks for safe and sustainable medical waste management in Burundi.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.561-569
• /
• 2015

Schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections are widespread diseases of public health importance in Tanzania. A study on perceptions and practices related to schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections was undertaken among a community population of Kome Island in Sengerema District, north-western Tanzania, where intestinal schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections are endemic. Schistosomiasis and intestinal worm-related perceptions and practices were assessed before and 3 years after implementation of a participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) intervention as a control measure. Data were obtained from baseline and post-intervention knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) questionnaire surveys conducted twice in 2009 and 2012 among 82 individuals aged ${\geq}15years$. We found significant increases in respondents' knowledge of the cause, transmission, symptoms, health consequences, and prevention of schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections after PHAST intervention. The increase in respondents' knowledge on almost all aspects of the said infections was translated into actions to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections. This has not been achieved by chance, but due to well-designed and locally-adapted PHAST intervention. We conclude that despite criticisms, PHAST approach is still useful in empowering communities to control water, sanitation, and hygiene related infectious diseases such as schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections.