해방 이후 한국 전문의 제도의 기원과 전개 과정 -1950~1970년대를 중심으로-

Abstract

The medical specialist system of Korea began with the “Certification System Advocating Specialty Areas of Medical Practitioners,” which was stipulated by a law in 1951. That is, the medical specialist system of Korea began with state interference and control. From the perspective of the system operation, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs managed the system from 1952 to 1959, the National Institute of Health managed the system from 1960 to 1972, and the governance of the system was transferred to the Korean Medical Association, a professional organization, in 1973. However, the fact that all the issues related to the medical specialist system is still regulated by law even now remains a problem. The medical specialist qualification examination was first introduced in 1960, the first year of the governance of the system by the National Institute of Health. Prior to this, the certification for medical specialist was granted based on documentary examination alone. The initial qualification examination was not for the acquisition of qualification as a medical specialist as it is today, but rather, an examination to obtain permission from the government as a private medical practitioner and display a sign specifying the area of specialization. This led to the phenomenon that private medical practitioners accounting for the majority of medical specialists. This was the beginning of the medical specialist-centered private practitioner system that continues to the present. In short, after the liberation of Korea from the military occupation by Japan, the private medical clinics centered on general practitioners with completed the Japanese-style medical education were reorganized into medical clinics centered on medical specialists with completed the American-style medical education. Meanwhile, the medical resident system, a program for training medical specialists in Korea after the said liberation from Japanese occupation, was introduced from the United States and the Seoul National University Hospital was the first Korean hospital to formalize this system in Korea. Specifically, it is confirmed that the 1st internship program was implemented for a year from April 19, 1958 to April 13, 1959 with 18 medical college graduates working as a trainee in the Hospital. The medical resident training system that began from the Seoul National University Hospital gradually spread to and settled in other university and general hospitals throughout the country. Severance Hospital has been partially implementing such a training program on its own since the time of Japanese occupation. The medical specialist system of Korea is too rigid as a law. As mentioned earlier, this is because the medical specialist system started with the government’s regulations advocating the legalized areas of medical specialization, thereby resulting in regulation by law and control by the state. Korea is the only country in the world that stipulates all the training processes and acknowledgment of qualification of medical residents through laws or enforcement decrees thereof. Considering that the medical specialist system is originally a system aimed at the mutual acknowledgment that medical doctors are equipped with relevant special medical capabilities, it is necessary to introduce changes in the format of lifting excessive legal regulations in the future.