일제강점기 세브란스 의전 졸업생의 해외 활동

Abstract

The Severance Union Medical College had produced a total of 898 graduates before liberation (1945). They played an important role in caring for the health of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), when there was a shortage of medical personnel. A considerable proportion of the graduates went abroad for various reasons. Their motives for overseas migration vary depending on the time period. In the early 1910s and 20s, during the Japanese colonial period, many of the early graduates went abroad for the independence movement. They were mainly active in Manchuria, Russia, and China, especially in Shanghai, where the Korean Provisional Government was located. After the establishment of the State of Manchuria in 1932, Manchuria was no longer a base for the independence movement. In 1934, the Severance Union Medical College became a designated school by the Japanese Ministry of Education, and as a result, the Severance graduates were given the license to practice within the Japanese Empire, including Manchuria. From the late 1930s to early 1940s, many of Severance graduates went to Manchuria for better opportunities in their profession, working in both the private and public sectors. Several of them worked as medical officers in the army of the State of Manchuria. Some other graduates went to Japan to practice medicine. Another important motive for overseas migration was to study abroad. Not many graduates went to North America, and the majority went to Japanese universities to obtain their medical doctorate (Igaku Hakase) degrees, the main reason being that only a medical doctorate from a Japanese university made them eligible to work as professors of medical colleges under Japanese rule. The overseas activities of Severance graduates during the colonial period shows the socio-historical context of the medical professions under Japanese rule.