Compassionate Medical Care
at the Lower Rungs of the Society
Doctor Kim In Kwon
The first sight that caught the eyes of the twenty-nine years old doctor who graduated from the College of Medicine at Seoul National University was the people abandoned from society. After being with the people for four decades, Dr. Kim In Kwon is now a white-headed gentleman, but his thoughts and warmth for his patients remain fierce. Dr. Kim In Kwon, who worked at Aeyang Hospital, the first specialized hospital for the treatment of leprosy in Korea, from 1983 to 2016, received the 11th Service to Society Award presented by Seoul National University. We met Dr. Kim, who expressed his wishes to go on a path for patients with young doctors.
Sorok Island, a Reminder of My Vocation as a Doctor
Dr. Kim In Kwon first met leprosy patients in October of 1977 at Sorok Island. At that time, there was a regulation requiring medical students to work in medically vulnerable areas that were deprived of doctors or hospitals for six months. Dr. Kim chose to go to the Sorokdo National Hospital, despite the objections from his friends and family. After completing his required term at the hospital, he returned to Sorok Island in 1980 for three years as a public health doctor, joined by his wife and his 60-days-old daughter.
"Hansen's disease is not highly contagious and can be cured without side effects if it is treated at an early stage. But the perception toward people affected with Hansen's disease was extremely negative at that time, so it was difficult for the patients to seek treatment. I felt that there was a lot for me to do there, so I chose to go to a place that needed me, rather than to a place where people could be treated by doctors other than myself."
Hansen's disease, which is caused by mycobacterium leprae, leads to neurologic complications if not treated properly. Patients lose the sensations of touch, pain, and temperature, and if mycobacterium leprae reaches the elbow, their fingers become crooked. If patients without the sensations in their fingers and toes continue to suffer from external injuries, their digits could also fall off. Because of such disfiguring symptoms, patients with leprosy would often find themselves shunned from society. Sorok Island, where the leper colony was situated, is an island full of painful memories in Korean history.
"I have received many compliments that 'I'm doing a wonderful job.' But I never went to Sorok Island to do something good. I simply went there because I wanted to. I loved the patients whose heart was purer than anyone, despite their long-time suffering against discrimination and prejudice. It was rewarding to treat them. The doctors I met in Sorok Island were also different. I met many people who did not treat the patients as diseases but communicated with them on a human level. I opened up my heart and made up my mind to come back to Sorok Island."
34 Years at Yeosu Aeyang Hospital
After three years as a public health doctor, Dr. Kim's vocation as a doctor could not be clearer. Instead of returning to Seoul, Dr. Kim In Won turned his footsteps to Aeyang Hospital in Yeosu, the first private hospital for Hansen's disease. He became the chief of orthopedic surgery at Yeosu Aeyang Hospital in May 1983 and focused on treating patients with leprosy and polio. He focused on artificial joint surgery after the number of patients with the diseases decreased dramatically thanks to vaccination. At that time, Yeosu Aeyang Hospital was a relatively large hospital with over fifty beds, but with only three doctors, including Dr. Kim himself. Days went by as he treated patients without rest until 10 pm. On some days, Dr. Kim performed about twenty surgeries in a day.
"Most of the patients who came to Yeosu Aeyang Hospital were not that well off. Most patients had received treatments from other hospitals before coming to us. Because we lowered the cost of treatment, we naturally had to treat more patients."
During the ten surgery-free days and the Lunar New Year holidays, Dr. Kim performed surgeries overseas. He was grateful and felt indebted to foreign countries during his time at the Sorokdo National Hospital. Until the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Kim performed joint replacement surgeries in many countries, including Kenya, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Laos. He also invited medical staff from the countries to Korea to pass on his know-how.
"I thought the time was ripe to give back what we have received from foreign missionaries and the American organizations that supported the missionaries. Material donation is important but not as important as giving back love. What we received in the past was, in the end, love. I believe that we should be more interested in this in the future."
Hopes for Forming Interpersonal Relationships Instead of Doctor-Patient Relationships
After serving as the vice-director and director of Yeosu Aeyang Hospital, Dr. Kim retired in 2016 but resumed treating patients as a director emeritus for three years. Yeosu Aeyang hospital, which had 50 beds, has grown to have 200 beds and is visited by 110,000 patients every year. Dr. Kim In Kwon is still meeting patients today at Seoul Yes Hospital, located in Jukjeon. Perhaps it is his compassionate care backed by medical knowledge that attracts patients to travel far distances to meet him.
"Whenever I meet patients coming from faraway cities, I am honored to think that I did not waste my time as a doctor. Perhaps we maintain our relationships because we met as 'a person and person' rather than as 'a doctor and patient.' When I worked at Yeosu Aeyang Hospital, I did not like the rigid atmosphere of the doctor's office, so I made several offices and surgery rooms and kept standing or moving between rooms as I diagnosed my patients. This was to meet more patients, but more importantly, to consider the patients' perspectives as I diagnosed and treated them. I hope that patient treatment can be regarded as something that can happen between people, as neighbors, rather than something that takes place in a top-down relationship."
In his commencement speech at the Seoul National University commencement ceremony in 2015, Dr. Kim In Kwon famously told the graduates "not to look for the best jobs." He wanted the graduates beginning new chapters of their lives to follow their hearts when making big decisions, rather than having regrets. As a person who has cared for the most marginalized patients for 34 years, Dr. Kim takes pride and finds motivation in the fact that he made the right choice on his own. Dr. Kim In Kwon advised the students also to "choose a job that gives [them] a sense of fulfillment and joy."
"Do not think of what others would say and do something that makes you happy. You might feel disappointed or discouraged with your decisions, but I hope you do not doubt yourself and follow your heart. I, too, vow to treat patients without forgetting the passion I felt at Sorok Island for the first time."
