• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2020

There is a noticeable gap in the personnel structures of clinical laboratories between North Korea and South Korea. In North Korea, 'Laboratory Doctor' is similar to the workforce of 'Medical Technologist (commonly known as Clinical Laboratory Technologist or Medical Laboratory Scientist)' in South Korea. Considering preceding research based on the verbal evidence of North Korean healthcare personnel defectors, it is estimated that the status of laboratory doctor in North Korea generally corresponds to physician and feldsher (such as physician assistant in Western countries). Physicians and feldshers are trained and fostered for five and a half years in medical universities and for three years in medical vocational schools (so-called junior college of medicine). Unlike South Korea, the North Korea's healthcare personnel system does not subdivide the tasks, education, qualifications and law regarding the specialties of health experts. It is thought that the Korean Association of Medical Technologists needs to collaboratively search and present the milestones for establishment of a professional system on clinical laboratory personnel in North Korea through cooperative research on policies with the related organizations for better preparation of the unification of the Korean Peninsula.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.110-135
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• 2005

The objectives of this study were (1) to describe doctors' perception and attitudes toward patient safety culture and medical error reporting in their working unit and hospitals, (2) to examine whether these perception and attitudes differ by doctors' characteristics, such as sex, position, and specialties, and (3) to understand the relationship between overall perception of patient safety in their working unit and each sub domain of patient safety culture. A survey was conducted with 135 doctors working in a university hospital in Korea. After descriptive analyses and chi-square tests of subgroup differences, a multivariate-regression of overall perception of patient safety in their unit with sub-domains of patient safety culture was conducted. Overall, a significant proportion of doctors expressed negative perception of their working units' patient safety culture, many reporting potentials for patient safety problems to occur in their unit. They also negatively viewed their hospital leadership's commitment on patient safety. Regarding the patient safety in their working unit, doctors were most worried about staffing level and observance of safety procedures. Most doctors did not know how and which medical error to report. They also perceived that medical errors would work against them personally and penalize them. About 22 percent of respondents believed that even seriously harmful medical errors were not reported.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.205-215
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• 2011

Background: Interventional pain management (IPM) is a branch of medical science that deals with management of painful medical conditions using specially equipped X-ray machines and anatomical landmarks. Interventional physiatry is a branch of physical medicine and rehabilitation that treats painful conditions through intervention in peripheral joints, the spine, and soft tissues. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using three years of hospital records (2006 to 2008) from the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department at Chittagong Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh, with a view toward highlighting current interventional pain practice in a tertiary medical college hospital. Result: The maximum amount of intervention was done in degenerative peripheral joint disorders (600, 46.0%), followed by inflammatory joint diseases (300, 23.0%), soft tissue rheumatism (300, 23.0%), and radicular or referred lower back conditions (100, 8.0%). Of the peripheral joints, the knee was the most common site of intervention. Motor stimulation-guided intralesional injection of methylprednisolone into the piriformis muscle was given in 10 cases of piriformis syndrome refractory to both oral medications and therapeutic exercises. Soft tissue rheumatism of unknown etiology was most common in the form of adhesive capsulitis (90, 64.3%), and is discussed separately. Epidural steroid injection was practiced for various causes of lumbar radiculopathy, with the exception of infective discitis. Conclusion: All procedures were performed using anatomical landmarks, as there were no facilities for the C-arm/diagnostic ultrasound required for accurate and safe intervention. A dedicated IPM setup should be a requirement in all PMR departments, to provide better pain management and to reduce the burden on other specialties.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 1984

This study was conducted to identify the problems in the medical aid program by reviewing the medical care utilization pattern of the beneficiaries. The data were abstracted from the monthly bills and vouchers for medical care of the whole benefi챠aries(17,527) in Gyeongsan Gun submitted by the physicians to county government for the period of 1 calendar year from October 1981 to September 1982. The number of medical aid beneficiary accounted for 12.7% of the total county population, a higher proportion than the national average-9.5%. Monthly primary care utilization rate per 100 beneficiaries was 9.3 persons with 14.0 visits and 42.9 medication days. for the 2nd and 3rd care, there were 1.7 admissions and 9.3 OPD visits per 100 beneficiaries per year. The beneficiaries of the first class medical aid program had a higher utilization rate of both the primary and secondary/tertiary care facilities. Females utilized more the primary care facilities than males while males utilized more the secondary/tertiary care facilities than females. A significantly lower utilization rate was observed in January than in the other months and this was seemed due to the renewal process of the medical aid certificate. Among 1,931 patients utilized the 2nd/3rd care facilities 84.4% was out-patients and the lowest ratios were in the minor specialties including ENT, ophthalmology, dermatology and urology. The average hospital days per in-patient were 21.2 days and OPD days per out patient were 4.7 days. The average hospital days for a psychiatry in-patient was 74.4 days which was the longest average hospital days among all the specialties. Average medical care cost per beneficiary in a year was W9,821:W24,240 for the 1st class and W7,464 for the 2nd class. The medical care cost for the primary care per patient was W3.901 and W840 per day compared with W49,875 per patient and W5,822 per day for the secondary/tertiary care. From the findings of this study following recommendations were made to improve the medical care program: 1) The renewal process of the medical care certificate should be expedited. 2) Minor specialty clinics should be designated as the primary medical care facility for the medical aid program to reduce the expenses by absorbing more patients referred to the secondary/tertiary care facilities directly. 3) The medical care cost for the primary care facility should be escalated to reduce the differential between the primary and secondary/tertiary care facilities.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.41
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• pp.38.1-38.13
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• 2019

The application of botulinum in oral and maxillofacial surgery begins in 1982, where Jan Carruthers started using it for reducing the muscle mass and smoothing the skin, and since then it has been used for cosmetic purposes. In Korea, it is already being used by various specialties including dentistry (oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine), plastic surgery, dermatology, ophthalmology, general surgery, and orthopedic surgery, etc. Each specialty approaches to Botox with its own medical indications. In this article, we will discuss the maxillofacial application of botulinum toxin, which includes theoretical and practical aspects of such as bruxism and square jaw.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.415-416
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• 2014

Previous studies in various medical specialties have shown that fewer than 50% of abstracts presented at meetings are subsequently published, but only a few studies have been performed in pediatric dentistry. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of publication of articles based on abstracts presented at the Korean Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (K.A.P.D) spring and fall Congress for 2001 to 2011. The abstracts for both oral and poster presentation were collected. A RISS search was then performed to identify the publication of full-length articles based on those titles of the abstracts. A total of 822 abstract presentations were done at the 22 meetings (543 as oral presentation, 279 as poster presentations). Of these, 42.2% (347) was subsequently published. The publication ratio for orally presented abstracts was 50.6% (275), poster presentations 25.8% (72). We suggest that presenters at these meetings should expand their abstracts into full manuscripts and seek to publish them in peer-reviewed journals for the benefit of the profession.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.23-28
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• 2022

The purpose of the article is to analyze students' self-assessment of the level of soft skills development and the prospects for its improvement in a pandemic. For an adequate and objective study of the stated issues, comparative analysis was most often used. For this purpose, theoretical studies of national and foreign experts were analyzed, which included specific sociological surveys. Prospects for further work are assumed in a detailed study of the factors, conditions and mechanisms for the formation and development of soft skills in students of natural, engineering and technological, medical, social and humanitarian specialties.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.313-320
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• 2022

Background: Serotonin syndrome is a life-threatening disease if not appropriately treated. This study aimed to investigate the prescription status of contraindicated drug combinations that cause serotonin syndrome and identify the related factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using nationwide claims data. Adult patients taking serotonergic drugs with Parkinson's disease or mental disorders were selected. Based on international medical databases (MDBs) and the Korean Drug Utilization Review (DUR), the status of prescribing contraindicated drug combinations that induce serotonin syndrome, the related factors, and the difference between international MDBs and the Korean DUR were analyzed. Results: Of the 49,773 study subjects, 163 (0.3%) were prescribed contraindicated serotonergic drug combinations based on international MDBs, and among them, only 105 (64.4%) were contraindicated by the Korean DUR. Positive influencing factors for prescribing contraindicated drug combinations include patient age between 65 and 74 and physician's specialties (neurologists, and orthopedists). Negative influencing factors were physician's specialty (internists) and medical institution (primary institutions). Conclusion: Despite the implementation of DUR, 3 out of 1,000 study subjects received contraindicated drug combinations that caused serotonin syndrome. Hence, it is necessary to comply with the DUR and improve it in accordance with international MDBs.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.437-443
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• 2014

The JCVSD (Japan Cardiovascular Surgery Database) was organized in 2000 to improve the quality of cardiovascular surgery in Japan. Web-based data harvesting on adult cardiac surgery was started (Japan Adult Cardiovascular Surgery Database, JACVSD) in 2001, and on congenital heart surgery (Japan Congenital Cardiovascular Surgery Database, JCCVSD) in 2008. Both databases grew to become national databases by the end of 2013. This was influenced by the success of the Society for Thoracic Surgeons' National Database, which contains comparable input items. In 2011, the Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery announced that the JACVSD and JCCVSD data are to be used for board certification, which improved the quality of the first paperless and web-based board certification review undertaken in 2013. These changes led to a further step. In 2011, the National Clinical Database (NCD) was organized to investigate the feasibility of clinical databases in other medical fields, especially surgery. In the NCD, the board certification system of the Japan Surgical Society, the basic association of surgery was set as the first level in the hierarchy of specialties, and nine associations and six board certification systems were set at the second level as subspecialties. The NCD grew rapidly, and now covers 95% of total surgical procedures. The participating associations will release or have released risk models, and studies that use 'big data' from these databases have been published. The national databases have contributed to evidence-based medicine, to the accountability of medical professionals, and to quality assessment and quality improvement of surgery in Japan.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3611-3614
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• 2016

Background: Propolis based preparations have a wide range of applications in various specialties of dentistry. The aim of this clinical trial was to test the efficacy of propolis as a mouthwash in the reduction of chemotherapy induced oral mucositis (OM) in a single center. Materials and Methods: In this randomised, controlled study patients undergoing chemotherapy were included consecutively and randomised to an experimental group receiving propolis mouthwash (n = 20) and a control group receiving diluted water (n=20). Oral mucositis, erythema and eating and drink ability were assessed at baseline and after 3 and 7 days using the World Health Organization (WHO) scale and the oral mucositis assessment scale (OMAS). Results: There were significant differences in OM, wound and erythema in propolis group compared to placebo, but no significant difference in eating and drink ability. However, it was interesting that 65% of the patients in the propolis group were completely healed at day 7 of the trial. No significant adverse events were reported by the patients. Conclusions: This study found that oral care with propolis as mouthwash for patients undergoing chemotherapy is an effective intervention to improve oral health. Our findings shouldlencourage health practitioners to apply propolis mouth rinse for the oral care of patients under chemotherapy.