Korean Red Cross Hospital (1905–1907): Focused on its Establishment, Management and Abolition / 의사학

The Korean Empire, its state sovereignty threatened by the Empire of Japan, joined the Geneva Conventions in 1903 for the purpose of neutral diplomacy and established the imperial Korean Red Cross Hospital in 1905. This hospital was a result of the effort of the Korean Empire to seek a new medical system based on the Western medicine. However, after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan interfered straightforwardly in the domestic affairs of Korea and eventually abolished the Korean Red Cross Hospital in 1907 to create Daehan Hospital under Japanese colonial rule. With newly-found historical records, this study investigates the whole process of the Korean Red Cross Hospital, which has remained unknown so far, despite its importance. From the very beginning, the Korean Red Cross Hospital was under strong influence of the Empire of Japan. The site for the hospital was chosen by a Japanese army doctor, Junryō Yoshimoto, and the construction was supervised by Rokurō Katsumata, who also later on are involved in the construction of Daehan Hospital. Moreover, all the main positions for medical treatments were held by Japanese practitioners such as Gorō Tatami and Kaneko Yano. Nevertheless, the Korean government had to shoulder the all operating costs. The office of the Korean Red Cross was relocated away from the Korean Red Cross Hospital, and the government of the Korean Empire was not willing to burden the expenses of the Hospital. Moreover, the list of employees of the Korean Red Cross and that of the Korean Red Cross Hospital were drawn up separately: the former is left only in Korea and the latter in Japan. These facts suggest that those two institutes were managed dualistically unlike any other nation, implying that this may have been a means to support the Daehan Hospital project. According to the statistics, health care services in the Korean Red Cross Hospital seems to have been carried out successfully. There had been an increase in the number of patients, and the ratio of female patients was relatively high (26.4%). Only Western medications were prescribed and surgical operations with anesthesia were performed routinely. The approach to Western medicine in Korea was changing during that period. The rise and fall of the Korean Red Cross Hospital represent the urgent situation of the Korean Empire as well as the imperialistic methodology of the Empire of Japan to use medicine as a tool for colonization. Although the transition process of medical policy by the Japanese Resident-General of Korea still remains to be fully elucidated, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the history of modern medicine in Korea.

Sir William Osler. Desde el nacimientode los hospitales universitarioshasta la satisfacción por lamedicina moderna / Sir William Osler. From the beginning of the university hospitals, to the satisfaction for modern medicine

William Osler es uno de los médicos con más influencia e importancia en la historia de la medicina. Su influencia abarca varios campos: el clínico, el educativo, el literario, elinvestigativo, e incluso el filosófico. Muchos de sus métodos de estudio son aun utilizados en muchasescuelas de medicina, y también sus enseñanzas son aplicables a la práctica de la medicina actual.Biólogo, patólogo, internista, profesor, observador clínico, autor, bibliófilo, historiador y amante de su profesión, Sir William Osler revolucionó el sistema de enseñanza de la medicina y creó el primer hospital universitarioen Estados Unidos hace más de 100 años. La grandeza del pensamiento de Osler, su reverencia por losestudiantes y los pacientes, lo convierte en un personajedigno del recuerdo. Osler, a pesar de los pocos tratamientosefectivos que poseía (lo que su época tenía), creía que los médicos podían encontrar satisfacción en su practicade la medicina y podían ayudar a los pacientes a curar, oal menos a tener una mejor calidad de vida, teniendo la mente abierta, siendo creativos y artistas científicos, másque intercambiadores de servicios.

William Osler is one of the most influent and important physicians in the history of medicine.His influence covers many fields, as clinical practice, education, literature, research, even philosophy. Many of his teachings are still used in many medical schools over the world, as theyare still practiced in actual medicine. Biologist, pathologist, internist, teacher, clinical observer,author, bibliophile, historian, and a lover of his profession, Sir William Osler revolved the teachingof medicine in the United States, and createdthe first university hospital more than 100 years ago. The greatness of his thoughts, his reverencefor the students and patients, convertshim in a person worth remembering. Besides the few effective treatments of time, Osler believedthat physicians could find satisfaction in their practice, and that they could cure patients, and helps them have a better quality of life, by beingopen minded, creative and scientific artists, more than exchangers of services.