Esther K. Pak(1876-1910) is believed as the first medical doctor in Korea. Esther's life can be largely reviewed in three parts: school-hood at EwhaHaktang(currently Ewha Womans University), Education in the United States, and medical missionary work after coming back to Korea from the United States. The foreign Methodist missionaries was able to enter Korea after opening of its ports and establishing its diplomatic relationship with the United States. Esther met modern sciences and Christianity at EwhaHaktang, which was founded by those missionaries. She could dream of being an American-style medical doctor in the future, while she assisted medical missionaries at PoKuNyoKwan in EwhaHaktang. She could get substantial academic help from those missionaries. With the support of Dr. Rosetta Sherwood Hall, who first introduced the world of medial science to Esther in a real sense, Esther went to the United States to study the field in 1894. While learning it, she suffered from academic frustration, economic difficulty, her husband's death and so on, but she eventually got over those adversities and completed the four years of academic courses to become a medical doctor. Her religious faith and will to help Koreans as a doctor encouraged her to finish what she had originally planned. Esther came back to Korea in 1900 and began to work earnestly as a medical missionary delegated from Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. At PoKuNyoKwan in Seoul and Woman's Hospital in Pyongyang, She performed medical work and enlightenment campaign against the superstitious healing conduct. Esther also took part in the circuit missionary performances. She devoted herself for evangelical work at Bible Institute as well. Esther's activity made people understand the effectiveness of education. She helped people to recognize education for woman, occidental medical treatment and Christianity in a positive way. On April 28, 1909, based on these excellent performances for the social development, she was invited, honored and granted a testimonial at the first welcoming ceremony, which was held by the united body of civilians and officials, for students studying abroad. But on April 13, 1910, about one year after the ceremony, she died of illness. She was 34. Although she was born at the turbulent last period of Korea Empire and lived for only 34 years, Esther's medical missionary work was evaluated as the opening of woman's participation in medical science in Korea. Not only in the 'woman's' but also in 'whole' field of medical science, her performance left significant marks in woman's and Christian history in Korea as well.
History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; Korea ; Medical Missions, Official/history ; Missions and Missionaries/*history ; Protestantism/history

PoKuNyoKwan was established in 1887 by Meta Howard, a female doctor who was dispatched from Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, an evangelical branch affiliated with U.S. North Methodist Church. PoKuNyoKwan was equipped with dispensaries, waiting rooms, pharmacies, warehouses, operating rooms, and wards for about 30 patients. It used a traditional Korean house, which was renovated for its medical purpose, in Ewha Haktang. Residing in Chung Dong, the medical institution had taken care of women's mental and physical health for about 25 years, until it was merged with East Gate Lillian Harris Memorial Hospital in 1912, and then its dispensary function was abolished in 1913. Medical missionaries(Meta Howard, Rosetta Sherwood, Mary M. Cutler, Emma Ernsberger, Esther K. Pak, Amanda F. Hillman) and nurse missionaries(Ella Lewis, Margaret J. Edmunds, Alta I. Morrison, Naomi A. Anderson), who were professionally trained in the United States, and their helpers, who were trained by those missionaries, managed PoKuNyoKwan. Nurses who were educated in Nurses' Training School, which was also established by PoKuNyoKwan, helped to run the institution as well. At the beginning, they usually had worked as a team of one medical missionary and three helpers. Since its establishment in 1903, however, the helpers began to enter the Nurses' Training School to become professional nurses, and the helpers eventually faded out because of the proliferation of those nurses. PoKuNyoKwan did not only offer medical services but also executed educational and evangelical activities. Medical missionaries struggled to overcome Koreans' ignorance and prejudice against westerners and western medical services, while they took care of their patients at office, for calls, and in hospital dispensaries. Enlightening the public by criticizing Korean traditional medical treatments including fork remedies, acupuncture, and superstitions, they helped modernization of medical systems in Korea. In the area of education, Rosetta Sherwood taught helpers basic medical science to make them regular medical staff members, and Margaret J. Edmunds established the Nurses' Training School in PoKuNyoKwan for the first time in Korea. The nurses who graduated from the school worked at PoKuNyoKwan and some other medical institutions. Evangelical activities included Bible study in the waiting rooms of PoKuNyoKwan and prayer meeting on Sunday for those who were treated in PoKuNyoKwan. The institution in the end worked as a spot for spreading Christianity in Korea. As the first women's hospital, PoKuNyoKwan attempted to educate female doctors. Eventually, it played a role as a cradle to produce Esther K. Pak, who was the first female doctor in Korea. The hospital also ran the first nurse training center. It was, in a real sense, the foundational institution to raise professional practitioner undertaking medical services in Korea. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that PoKuNyoKwan provided sound basis for the development of modern medical services for women in Korea.
Education, Nursing/history ; Female ; History, 19th Century ; History, 20th Century ; Hospitals, Religious/history ; Hospitals, Special/*history ; Humans ; Korea ; Missions and Missionaries/*history ; United States ; Women's Health Services/*history

This paper aims to examine the establishing background, curriculum and organization of personnel of Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN(Caring For and Saving Woman's Hospital), the first nurses' training school in Korea. It is attempt to richen Korean medical history by the historical approach to modern nurses' training institution in Korea. PO KU NYO KWAN, the first women's hospital in Korea was established in 1887 by Metta Howard, who was sent by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of Northern Methodist Episcopal Church. Women doctors who were responsible for PO KU NYO KWAN felt the necessity of the professional nurses' training institution during performing medical activity with the help of Korean assistants and asked the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society to establish the nurses' training institution consistently. Margaret J. Edmunds was sent with the mission to establish nurses' training school in PO KU NYO KWAN. She made regulations for establishing nurses' training school, translated 'nurse' into "Gan-ho-won" in Korean language, made nurses' uniforms and prepared textbooks. Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN was opened late December in 1903 officially. It had various subjects relating nursing in curriculum. The faculty of it was mainly comprised of medical missionaries of Methodist Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church. Also the graduates of Severance Medical School and the graduates and students of Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN participated its curriculum as teaching staff. In late 1920, Joseon Nurses Association (Joseon ganhobuhoe) discussed about the requirements for admission and the course of study for missionary nurses training school. After this process, students who were qualified for high-level class could have admission for Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN. Medical staff belonged to East Gate Hospital and the graduates of Ewha College taught classes in it. First capping ceremony was held on January 25, 1906 and first graduate ceremony was held on November 11, 1908 in Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN. They were for nurse students who finished proper course of study. Capping ceremony and graduation ceremony were not held regularly. The superintendent of Nurses' Training School graduated qualified students irregularly. The superintendents of Nurses' Training School were Margaret J. Edmunds, Alta I. Morrison, Mary M. Cutler, Naomi A. Anderson, E. S. Roberts, M. M. Rogers, and E. T. Rosenberger. They worked for the establishment of the first Korean nurses' training school, the development of the curriculum of it, the organization of faculty of it and making various opportunity for nursing practical training till the closure of it in 1933. Professional experts of Korean nursing were produced thanks to their efforts. We can identify 49 graduates of Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN, including KIM Martha and LEE Grace. After graduation, most of them worked as nurses in mission hospitals and institutions and taught classes in nurses' training school. Nurses' Training School of PO KU NYO KWAN was the first modern nurses' training institution in Korea. Korean women could turn over new leaves, overcome their traditional view of womanhood which they had as Korean women, and change their consciousness in it.
Curriculum ; Female ; History of Medicine ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Religion and Medicine ; Schools, Nursing/*history/organization & administration ; Students, Nursing/history

BACKGROUND: Trichophyton verrucosum (T. verrucosum) is a zoophilic dermatophyte distributed all around the world. In Korea, kerion celsi caused by T. verrucosum was first reported by Kim et al in the southeast province of Korea. Since then, many patients infected with T. verrucosum have been reported in Young-nam, Chungcheong province, and so on. OBJECTIVE: There have been few reports on the T. verrucosum in Korea, yet. Authors tried to offer the information on dermatophytosis due to T. verrucosum in the various aspects such as prevalence of each year, epidemiology, onset time of the year and season, distribution and characteristics of the regions, sex and age distribution, the clinical types, onset site of the body, and the relation between human beings and infected cattle and so on. METHOD: A total of 218 patients who visited Catholic Dermatologic Clinic in Daegu, Korea from 1986 to 2004, were finally diagnosed as T. verrucosum infection by KOH and fungal culture. The data were based on a retrospective survey of hospital records. However, whenever the information was lacking, we called patients to ask lists of questions for the investigation. RESULTS: The number of patients had increased every year since the first report in 1986. In 1988, the number was up to 44, which was the most. After the year 2000, the number of patients had been decreasing so continuously that there was no case in the year 2003 and 2004. As we see the distribution of province, 47 cases were from Daegu, 137 cases from Kyungsang bukdo, 29 cases from Kyungsang namdo, 5 cases from other provinces and cyties. In the distribution of season, 81 cases appeared in the spring, which was the most. Female to male ratio showed about a 1.2-fold predominance for male. And less than 15-year-old group was 41.3% of total patients. The most frequent onset site was face (36 cases, 16.5%), and the next were arm, trunk, head, leg, neck in the decreasing orders. Classifying the patients by the clinical type, 150 cases (68.8%) were in the tinea circinata type, and the next were kerion celsi type, tinea barbae type, agminated folliculitis type in the decreasing orders. Among 126 cases, 99 patients raised cattle with lesions caused by T. verrucosum, 8 patients raise cattle without lesions, 19 patients didn't breed cattle. CONCLUSION: This investigation is expected to help understand and obtain more information on T. verrucosum infection in Korea.
Adolescent ; Age Distribution ; Animals ; Arm ; Arthrodermataceae ; Cattle ; Daegu ; Epidemiology ; Female ; Folliculitis ; Head ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Korea ; Leg ; Male ; Neck ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Tinea ; Tinea Capitis ; Trichophyton*

BACKGROUND: Superficial fungal infections, including dermatophyte infection and cutaneous candidiasis, are common and affect more than 25% of the population worldwide. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the recent clinical and mycological characteristics of dermatophytosis and cutaneous candidiasis in southeastern Korea. METHODS: Of 20,413 patients with dermatophyte infection, cutaneous candidiasis, or suspected fungal infection, 8,106 who were culture positive for infection were retrospectively evaluated using their medical records. RESULTS: The annual incidence rate of fungal infection tended to be constant. Such infections were more common in men than in women. Fungal infections most commonly occurred in patients in their 50s and in August. The most common clinical type of superficial fungal infections was tinea pedis. The most common causative fungus of superficial fungal infections was Trichophyton rubrum. CONCLUSION This study provides useful information on the clinical and mycological characteristics of fungal infections in southeastern Korea in recent years.

BACKGROUND: Sporotrichosis is a subacute to chronic, deep fungal infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii and has a wide variety of clinical presentations. Although sporotrichosis is the most common deep fungal infection in Korea, few reports have included a long term investigation and survey of sporotrichosis. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed patients' records for 38 recent years to identify the incidence and changes in clinical findings on sporotrichosis. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 71 patients with sporotrichosis for 38 recent years (1968~2005) by reviewing the medical records and making phone calls to patients if needed. RESULTS: The incidence of sporotrichosis is currently on a decreasing trend and incidents were more common for rural residents (43 cases, 60.6%) than urban residents (28 cases, 39.4%). The most frequent occupation of patients was 'farmer' (37 cases, 52%). Seasonally, twenty seven cases (38.0%) occurred in winter (December to February), showing higher incidence than any other season. Lympho-cutaneous type (53 cases, 74.6%) is more common than fixed cutaneous type (18 cases, 25.4%) and the most common site of the initial lesion was left upper extremity. Of 47 patients who had primary lesion on upper extremity, 39 (83%) were of the lympho-cutaneous type, and of 15 patients who had primary lesion on face, 9 (60%) were of the fixed cutaneous type. CONCLUSION: According to this study, some changes in clinical findings and prevalence of sporotrichosis over the study period were noted. Further observation and analysis are required to clarify the meaning of these changes.
Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Medical Records ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Sporothrix ; Sporotrichosis ; Upper Extremity

No abstract available.
Arthrodermataceae* ; Epidemiology* ; Korea*

BACKGROUND: Tinea capitis is a cutaneous infection of dermatophytes and predominant in children. Although tinea capitis in Korea is controlled by oral antifungal medications and concerted public health initiatives, it's still a health issue. OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in the epidemiological and mycological characteristics of adult patients with tinea capitis in southeastern Korea. METHODS: Using medical records from Kyungpook National University Hospital and Catholic Skin Clinic from 1989 to 2018, we retrospectively investigated the epidemiological and mycological characteristics of 266 adult patients (aged over 20) with tinea capitis. RESULTS: Among total 266 patients, 239 were KOH-positive. The annual incidence of tinea capitis ranged from 3 to 18 between 1989 and 2018. Of the total, 54 (20.30%) were male and 212 (79.70%) were female. Eighty patients (30.08%) were in their seventies, the most commonly affected age group. Of the remaining, 58 (21.80%) were in their sixties, and 41 (15.41%) in eighties. Among all, 77 (28.95%) visited the hospital in summer, 72 (27.07%) in spring, 64 (24.06%) in winter, and 53 (19.92%) in fall. Dermatophytes were cultured from 171 patients. Microsporum canis was the most common dermatophyte (42.48%), while Trichophyton rubrum was the second (15.79%). Of the 266 patients, 186 (69.92%) lived in urban areas and 80 (30.08%) in rural areas. CONCLUSION The epidemiological and mycological characteristics of adult patients with tinea capitis were different from those of children in terms of annual incidence, sex distribution, and isolated dermatophytes. These results provide useful information for the treatment and prevention of tinea capitis.

Trichophyton rubrum is the most common dermatophyte in the world with the highest prevalence in Korea. There are few reports about epidemiological and mycological characteristics of T. rubrum based on long-term, large-scale studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of T. rubrum infections in Korea. We retrospectively investigated with patients' records about the epidemiological and mycological status of 115,846 cases with T. rubrum infection that was mycologically diagnosed at Catholic Skin Disease Clinic from 1979 to 2013. Direct microscopy in 15% KOH solution and culture was done in each case. The annual incidence of patients with T. rubrum infection had been increasing during the period; and of 131,122 patients with dermatophytosis, 115,846 patients (88.35%) had T. rubrum infection. Disease was most prevalent among patients in their twenties in the 1970s and 1980s; in their thirties in the 1990s; in their forties in the 2000s; and in their fifties in the 2010s. The sex ratio was 1.5:1. T. rubrum infection was most commonly seen in summer and was found predominantly in patients living in urban areas. Toe webs were most frequently involved, followed by toenails and groin. This epidemiologic findings provide useful information for prevention of T. rubrum infection and future dermatophytosis prospects.
Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Sex Factors ; Tinea/*epidemiology/microbiology/pathology ; Trichophyton/*isolation & purification ; Urban Population