5
COM Outlook . Winter 2015
Selective Rotation in South Korea Offers
Fourth-Year Student Keen Insights
By OMS-IV Hanjo Kwon-Anderson
Why I Chose to Do This Rotation
I recently chose to rotate at Sever-
ence Hospital, which is a university
hospital of Yonsei Medical School lo-
cated in Seoul, South Korea, because
I believed the site would provide me
exposure to serving the urban popula-
tion in South Korea, where I am from
originally. I also felt that as a future
U.S. pediatrician, I would draw pa-
tients seeking physicians that speak
Korean, which means I’ll need to be
familiar with the common diseases and
the treatment modality widely used in
South Korea in order to better under-
standmy patients and their conditions.
I also felt this experience would aid
my understanding of epidemiology
for some of the common illnesses they
encounter in South Korea.
Common Diseases in South Korea
On my first day, I was surprised to
see the large number of patients that
had aseptic meningitis, hand-foot-
and-mouth disease, herpangina, and
Kawasaki disease. My preceptor told
me aseptic meningitis is still very com-
mon in SouthKorea and askedme how
many aseptic meningitis patients I saw
during my pediatric rotation. I recalled
several patients with bacterial menin-
gitis and maybe a couple more with
asepticmeningitis, but not to this extent.
Later, I learned from my personal
research that there had been numerous
outbreaks of enterovirus 71 (EV71)
infection in Asia, including China,
Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and
South Korea in the recent past. EV71
infection in these countries is still quite
prevalent. Consequently, due to the
fatal nature of the neurological compli-
cations from the disease, China started
developing vaccinations for EV71. I
also sawmany patients with Kawasaki
disease. Although it is rarely seen in
the United States, it is pretty common
in South Korea as the disease is most
prevalent in the Asian population. It
was also surprising to see quite a few
cases of active and latent tuberculosis
during my rotation.
The Relational Aspects of
Patient Care in South Korea
I found that South Korean doctors
have a very casual approach to speak-
ing to patients and their family mem-
bers. Theywould not only speak about
the patients’ condition, but would often
carry on a conversation about the chil-
dren’s schooling, their emotional well-
being, and family matters even during
rounding. Interestingly, although my
preceptor and his senior were asked to
see 20-plus patients during rounding
and 40 to 50 patients during outpatient
clinic time, they never failed to smile
and act kindly to patients. They were
not too casual with their dealings with
students and residents, however, and
were very stern about carelessmistakes
made by residents.
The Importance of Research
and Critical-Thinking Skills
in Patient Care
One of the things I learned from this
rotation is that one should never lose
passion for medicine and hunger for
knowledge. At every sit-down rounds
in the mornings, my preceptor would
question the way residents managed
patients andwould ask them to explain
their logic behind choosing a certain
medication over others. He would
teach them not to blindly follow the
current recommendations, but to ask
oneself why certain medications are
given for certain symptoms and how
they would affect the patients both
short and long term.
Summarizing Health Care and
the Medical Education
System in South Korea
South Korea has a National Health
Insurance system, and everyone is
required by law to participate in the
program. The system is funded by
compulsory contributions from all
residents and government subsidies.
Payments are made by an individual’s
employer unless one is self-employed,
and it is scaled according to each per-
son’s income level. Everyone, includ-
ing foreigners, can register and receive
equal benefits. As a result, medical
care is very affordable and patients at
Severence Hospital could stay for free
if they are hospitalized in a six-bed
room. However, there is still a need for
financial assistance for patients who
cannot afford even a very small fee.
This rotationmore than satisfiedmy
hopes and expectations. Not only did I
experience different aspects of patient
care and disease characteristics in the
population, but I was also able to learn
about the medical and academic medi-
cal system of South Korea.
INTERNATIONAL SELECTIVE ROTATION
