북한이탈의사 교육: 서울의료원에서의 경험을 중심으로

Abstract

As North Korea passed from the Devotion (Jeongseong) movement to the black market (Jangmadang) system, the medical service system in that country was effectively destroyed. North Korean physicians who have successfully defected to South Korea (North Korean defector physicians, NKDPs) have experienced socio-economic hardships on their way to becoming incorporated into the South Korean medical system due to different medico-social cultures, different (English-based) medical terminology, and the clinical knowledge gap between North and South Korea. Since 2009, we have operated programs at the Seoul Medical Center to help NKDPs prepare for the South Korean medical licensing examination. These programs consist of clinical education at the medical center, personal mentoring, arrangement of educational programs at the medical college, mock tests at the consortium, and administrative aid. Looking forward, we hope to achieve the following: 1) More systematic support plans are needed involving medical education experts, field physicians, and experts on reunification. 2) An evaluation of defector physicians’ current medical knowledge may provide information about the areas where supplementary education is most needed and the standards for certificating licenses. 3) In the short term, a customized glossary should be developed to assist defector physicians prepare for the examination. 4) To secure internships and residencies is the most important issue for further sustained training of NKDP physicians to become good clinicians after certification. Hopefully, this short report on the current ongoing educational course will lead to more extensive discussion.