1) What you have learned and experienced through the program
I am very grateful to have the opportunity to have a two-week visit to Yonsei University. Thanks for the thoughtfully arranged schedules for us. We really learned a lot during the visit. We had a series of masterly speeches, with the theme ranging from WHO and International Comparative Law to Patient safety and quality improvement in Korea. The lectures provided us an international perspective, which supplemented what we have already learned. We were given the chance to have deep thinking of the problems raised by the professors, and then discussed. We were free to ask questions about what were interested in, and would always get the explanation from the professors. In the afternoon, we had a lot of on-site visits. We visited the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation, where we learned about the Accreditation and Assessment of healthcare in Korea. The lecture included the history, organization, aim, and development of the organization. We also visited the National Cancer Center. It is considered as the best cancer center. The proton therapy was especially introduced, which received high reputation form the patients worldwide. Luckily, I had ever been in touch with programs related to cancer therapy. Thus, I was familiar with hospitals like Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center. However, most of the knowledge I have got were from the articles of medical journals.
It was the first time to had the medical equipment for proton therapy just in front of my eyes. We also had a visit to the Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. It was a good choice for both the patients and the hospitals to solve the medical disputes without going to the court. Therefore, it would save money for both the patients and the hospitals. However, the organization had its own limitation that only when the both sides agreed to seek for the help of medication and arbitration agency that it can give full play to the problem solving process.
We also had culture experience program. We went to the DMZ on Friday. The DMZ is a buffer zone border barrier between North Korea and South Korea. It was developed based on the agreement in 1953. We even viewed inside the third tunnel, which was discovered on 17 October 1978, with the help of a tip from a North Korean defector. The message we got from this visit was the strong wish for peace and unity. We were provided the chance to have Korean language classes. As we know, learning the language of one country is usually one of the best way to understand the culture. Even though we had only five classes in total, we had learned the way of pronunciation of Korean language. It provides us guide-in of Korean language, which is the basement for the self-learning afterwards.
2) How this program helped with your career plan and education
This program provides us an overview of the Korean healthcare system, including the hospitals, bioethics and law, accreditation and assessment, and dispute mediation and arbitration, which had a great influence on deepening the understanding of the healthcare system of our own country through comparison. The advanced thoughts, organizations, and medical technology would provide guidance for our future healthcare career. Even I was already having my master’s degree, there were still a lot of things I do not know. Thus, it is important for us to further our study both in school and in practice in the future, if we want to have achievements in public health filed.
The schedules are already well arranged. However, there are a few points to improve. First, a relatively tight schedule is good for us, keep that. Good arrangement of the activities could make participants feel more comfortable. For example, making the foreign language class right after the visit in the afternoon. Second, the introduction of the commentator from the National Assembly were not understandable. It would be better if there were English service. Third, I think the Soul City Experience Program is very interesting. I would appreciate it if it could be arranged in the first two weeks.
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