Women's Medical Training Institute 1928 to 1938

Kim, Sang Duk

Abstract

Historical development of Women's Medical Training Institute in Seoul, Korea, between 1928 to 1938, which had been elevated to the Kyongsong Women's Medical College in Seoul. Korea, under the Japanese Imperial Government will be presented. The College, after flew changes of its policies, finally became as Medical College of the Korea University in 1971. Dr. Rosetta Sherwood Hall, a medical missionary from New York who had spent for 44 years in Korea, witnessed the necessity of having woman doctors in Korea in order to save those shy Korean ladies silently suffering from sickness. As an initial step to implement women's medical education, Dr. R.S. Hall together with Drs. Kil Chung-Hee and Kim Tak-Won founded the Chosun Women's Medical Training Institute in 1928, with a purpose to eventually elevate it to a Women's Medical School. The Institute had a five-years course of curriculum with one year of pre-medical and four years of medical education. In 1933, Dr. Hall, at the age of 66, had to retire and return to America. Therefore, the management of the Institute had been transferred to Drs. Kim T.W and Kil C.H., but under a new name of Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute, upon the request from Japanese Government. The Institute had moved to a new location and continued to expand its curriculum, and furthermore, a hospital had been annexed. In order to elevate the Institute to a medical school, a committee had been formed in 1934, and pursued its goal very actively, as had been reported in several newspapers in those days. The organizing committee members were consisted of over 70 prominent Koreans from all walks of life with Mr. Park Young-Hyo as the chairman, naturally, Japanese Government had felt such a movement distasteful, as evidenced by the fact that they even attempted to abolish pre-existing educational organization for Koreans. A notable philanthropist Mr. Kim Chong-Ik joined as an active member of the above committee in 1936. However, unexpectedly, Mr. Kim C.I. became ill and passed away on May 1937 with his will to promote the Institute to a Women's Medical College, leaving a large sum of assets. The following year 1938, the Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute had been elevated to the Kyongsong Women's Medical College and both the students and various teaching materials of the Institute had been transferred to the Medical College. Although Japanese took over total management of the College and those members who set the important ground work for that Medical College were rejected to join as an active member, their management only lasted for 7 years until Korea liberated from the Japanese ruling on August 15, 1945.