Abstract-associated work is a painstaking part of every annual scientific meetings of professional societies . Abstracts have to be received via mail and delivered to the editorial board committee for the committee members to screen the quality and format of the meeting presentations. There are some professional societies that use a web-based abstract receiving system but this is limited only to the reception of abstracts. The work, thus, exhausts time, money and labor. With this in mind, we developed a new automated system which is fully web-based, making possible the reception, selection and publication of the abstracts. This was first applied to the 2001 Korean Society of Pathologists Fall Meeting(http://www.pathology.or.kr/abstract.htm). The overall selecting and electronic-publishing process took only few days. In addition to the convenience, the members of society were able to not only save time but also money. In order to make this possible, an electronic abstract book and a stand-alone executable program were distributed through the Internet (http://www.pathology.or.kr/way-board/db/File_Archives/file/Path200l.EXE).
Automation* ; Committee Membership ; Internet* ; Postal Service ; Publications

Abstract-associated work is a painstaking part of every annual scientific meetings of professional societies . Abstracts have to be received via mail and delivered to the editorial board committee for the committee members to screen the quality and format of the meeting presentations. There are some professional societies that use a web-based abstract receiving system but this is limited only to the reception of abstracts. The work, thus, exhausts time, money and labor. With this in mind, we developed a new automated system which is fully web-based, making possible the reception, selection and publication of the abstracts. This was first applied to the 2001 Korean Society of Pathologists Fall Meeting(http://www.pathology.or.kr/abstract.htm). The overall selecting and electronic-publishing process took only few days. In addition to the convenience, the members of society were able to not only save time but also money. In order to make this possible, an electronic abstract book and a stand-alone executable program were distributed through the Internet (http://www.pathology.or.kr/way-board/db/File_Archives/file/Path200l.EXE).
Automation* ; Committee Membership ; Internet* ; Postal Service ; Publications

The survey on the present status related to the operation of curriculum committees of medical schools was conducted from November 1st to 30, 1995. Of 32 school of medicine, 29 schools responded to the survey. The summary of findings is as follows: 1) Eighteen schools or 62 percent of schools surveyed had written regulations for the curriculum committee while the remaining 11 schools or 38 percent did not have any written statements. 2) While names of the committee varied, the most commonly used ones were curriculum committees and educatuion reform committees. 3) Three different types of committees' organizational structures were found as following: a) chair-person, secretary and members(14 schools or 48.3%) b) chair-person and members(10 schools or 34.5%) c) chair-person, vice chair-person, secretary and members(4 schools or 13.8%) 4) The number of committee members ranged from seven to twenty, an average of 12.1members. The chair-persons of committee appointed were deans(10.3%), associate deans(48.3%) and professors (41.4%). The selection methods for the committee members included (1) appointment by the dean (79.3%), (2) appointment by the dean after the recommendation by the chairperson of the committee(17.2%), (3) confirmation by faculty council by the recommendation made by the dean (3.5%). The method adopted for the change of committee members included (1) all members replaced at the same time at the and of terms of current member(27.6%), (2) 50 percent of committee members were replaced (24.1%), (3) other methods. 5) The most of curriculum committees hold their meetings irregularly (82.7%) while one school (3.5%) holds the meetings once per semester, three schools(10.3%) hold monthly meetings and one school reported to hold weekly meetings. The average numbers of meetings held in 1994 ranged from two to eleven, averaging 5.3 meetings. Average attendance rate was 72 percent, ranging from "less than 60 percent" (4 schools or 13.8%) to "80 percent or more" (8 schools or 27.6%). The commonly held meeting time was between 4 to 5 pm (55.1%). 6) The main functions of the curriculum committees reported by fourteen schools out of eighteen schools which have written regulations for the curriculum committee included educational evaluation, improvement of operational manuals of curriculum, allotment of credit hours and class hours, curriculum development and additions and deletions of courses. 7) The average expenses incurred for the activities of curriculum committees in 1994 reported was 2,545,000 won ranging 0 won to 24,000,000 won. The funds obtained for the activities of curriculum committees of 6 schools in 1995 ranged from 500,000 won to 35,000,000 won. Of 23 schools, fourteen schools(60.9%) reported to have easy access to financial resources for funding the activities of the curriculum committee while nine schools(39.1.0%) had difficulties in obtaining the funding support. In conclusion, the survey revealed that the most of medical schools in the country have established formal mechanisms for the development, monitoring and evaluation of medical curriculum. However, the writer feels that medical curriculum committees need to have paradigm shift in order to meet the challenges of globalization, technological revolution, resource competition and changing demands in health needs. It is thus recommended the medical curriculum committees take initiatives in meeting these challenges through paradigm shift in medical education appropriate for the 21st century.
Committee Membership ; Curriculum* ; Education, Medical ; Financial Management ; Humans ; Internationality ; Korea* ; Schools, Medical* ; Social Control, Formal

BACKGROUND: The functional status of elderly has been measured by many different methods including Karz ADL index, Bathel ADL index and physical self- maintenance scale. Among them, Bathel ADL index has been widely used in many countries because of easiness to scoring and administration. Therefore, we translated the Bathel ADL index and tested the translation validity and psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of Korean version of Bathel ADL index. METHODS: The Bathel ADL index was translated by multidisciplinary committee members. The quality of translation was rated by committee members using three criteria (clarity, use of common language, conceptual equivalence). Reliability was tested by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), two weeks test-retest reliability, and intraobserver agreement. Clinical validity and construct validity comparison with brain disability grade were tested for validity testing. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.97. Two weeks test-retest correlations coefficient was 0.95 (P=0.00). Interrator agreements were high in all 10 items (kappa=0.82~1.0). Normal control group had lower scores than the patient group (P=0.000). Correlation coefficients between the Korean version of Bathel ADL index score and brain- disability grade was -0.58 (P=0.000). CONCLUSION: The Korean version of Bathel ADL index is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring functional status of the elderly.
Activities of Daily Living* ; Aged ; Brain ; Committee Membership ; Humans ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results*

Clinical practice guidelines for gynecologic cancers have been developed by academic society from several countries. Each guideline reflected their own insurance system and unique medical environment, based on the published evidence. The Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology (KSGO) published the first edition of practice guidelines for gynecologic cancer treatment in late 2006; the second edition was released in July 2010 as an evidence-based recommendation. The Guidelines Revision Committee was established in 2015 and decided to develop the third edition of the guidelines in an advanced format based on evidence-based medicine, embracing up-to-date clinical trials and qualified Korean data. These guidelines cover strategies for diagnosis and treatment of primary and recurrent cervical cancer. The committee members and many gynecologic oncologists derived key questions through discussions, and a number of relevant scientific literature were reviewed in advance. Recommendations for each specific question were developed by the consensus conference, and they are summarized here, along with the details. The objective of these practice guidelines is to establish standard policies on issues in clinical practice related to the management in cervical cancer based on the results in published papers to date and the consensus of experts as a KSGO Consensus Statement.
Committee Membership ; Consensus* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Insurance ; Korea* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is a growing emphasis on quality management in endoscope reprocessing. Previous surveys conducted in 2002 and 2004 were not practitioner-oriented. Therefore, this survey is significant for being the first to target actual participants in endoscope reprocessing in Korea. METHODS: This survey comprised 33 self-filled questions, and was personally delivered to nurses and nursing auxiliaries in the endoscopy departments of eight hospitals belonging to the society. The anonymous responses were collected after 1 week either by post or in person by committee members. RESULTS: The survey included 100 participants. In the questionnaire addressing compliance rates with the reprocessing guideline, the majority (98.9%) had a high compliance rate compared to 27% of respondents in 2002 and 50% in 2004. The lowest rate of compliance with a reprocessing procedure was reported for transporting the contaminated endoscope in a sealed container. Automated endoscope reprocessors were available in all hospitals. Regarding reprocessing time, more than half of the subjects replied that reprocessing took more than 15 minutes (63.2%). CONCLUSIONS: The quality management of endoscope reprocessing has improved as since the previous survey. A national survey expanded to include primary clinics is required to determine the true current status of endoscope reprocessing.
Anonyms and Pseudonyms ; Committee Membership ; Compliance ; Endoscopes* ; Endoscopy ; Humans ; Korea ; Nurses' Aides ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Compliance with hand hygiene protocols is one of the simplest ways to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Hand hygiene is influenced by individual habits and beliefs, as well as by local organizational culture practices. This study was performed in order to increase the rate of compliance to hand hygiene through changes in the organizational culture. METHODS: From 2009 through 2011, this study was performed in a 2,000-bed tertiary-care university hospital with more than 6,000 employees. The program was implemented mainly by team activities, and the leadership and hand hygiene steering committee members supported them. Goals for planning, intervention, and evaluation of the compliance rate for hand hygiene were made annually in the hospital. RESULTS: The rate of compliance to hand hygiene increased significantly each year (43.8% in 2008, 75.3% in 2009, 80.7% in 2010, and 83.2% in 2011). The detection rate of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and the incidence of healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia decreased. CONCLUSION: The rate of compliance to hand hygiene was remarkably improved, and it continuously increased through systematic and continuous changes in the organizational culture. In addition, the detection rate of VRE and incidence of S. aureus bacteremia decreased. These results show that hand hygiene is an important factor for preventing HAIs.
Bacteremia ; Committee Membership ; Compliance ; Enterococcus ; Hand Hygiene ; Incidence ; Organizational Culture ; Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND: The functional status of elerly has been measured by mamy measures including Karz ADL index, Karz ADL index and physical self-maintenace scale. Amon them, Karz ADL index has been widely used in many countries because of easiness to scoring and adminstration. So we translated Karz ADL index and tested the translation validity, psychometric properties(validity and reliability) of Korean version of Karz ADL index. METHODS: The Karz ADL index was translated by multidisciplinary committee members. The quality of translation was rated by committee members using three criteria(clarity, use of common language, conceptual equivalence). Reliability was tested by internal consistency(Cronbach's alpha), two weeks test-retest reliability, intraobserver agreement. Clinical validity and construct validity comparison with brain disability grade were tested for validity testing. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.90. 2 weeks test-retest correlations coefficient was 0.94(p=0.00). Interrator agreements were high in all 10 items( =0.79 0.96). Normal control group had lower scores than patients group(p=0.000). Correlation coefficients between Korean version of Karz ADL index score and brain-disability grade was -0.68(p=0.000). CONCLUSION: Korean version of Karz ADL index is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring functional status of elderly.
Activities of Daily Living* ; Aged ; Brain ; Committee Membership ; Humans ; Psychometrics ; Reproducibility of Results*

KMAP (Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Major Psychiatric Disorders) was established to develop Korean algorithm for major psychiatric disorders. KMAP developed the draft of Korean medication algorithm for schizophrenia and assessed the level of satisfaction and fitness in the Review Committee using questionnaire about this draft. The members of Review Committee were medical doctors of psychiatry who were interested in the research of psychiatric drugs or were experienced in psychiatric pharmacotherapy in college of medicine, mental hospital or private psychiatric clinic. 57 psychiatrists were appointed as committee of re-examination of algorithm and 48 (84.2%) answered the questionnaire. The Korean medication algorithm draft for schizophrenia was based upon Korean clinical research, clinical experience of Korean professionals and clinical guidelines of other countries. The draft of this algorithm was categorized into 32 items, then we made a questionnaire according to these items. The answers of each question were consist of 5 levels of satisfaction, and the committee members could propose free opinion about these questions. The results of questionnaire were presented and discussed in an open forum. In most items except two, over half of committee members answered that `correction unnecessary of draft'. The 2 items showing low level of satisfaction were `trial of atypical antipsychotics at level 1', `trial of typical antipsychotics at level 4'. These items were revised from the draft after having discussion in an open forum. And then we published the first edition of `Korean Medication Algorithm for Schizophrenia'.
Advisory Committees ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Committee Membership ; Drug Therapy ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Psychiatry ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Schizophrenia*

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, considerable evidence has been accumulated showing that social networks influence health. However few valid and reliable instruments exist for assessing social networks among elderly population. Therefore, we translated the Lubben social network scales (LSNS) and tested the validity and reliability of Korean version. METHODS: Ten items, self-administered questionnaires were translated by multidisciplinary committee members. Also they were reverse translated by bilingual and modified from pretest procedure. Reliability was tested by 4 weeks testretest reliability and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Validity was tested by factor analysis and construct validity comparison with the Korean version of Duke-UNC and Korean Health Related Quality of Life Scale (KQOLS) were tested for validity testing. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.75. Four weeks test-retest Pearson coefficient was 0.78 (P < 0.0001). Correlation coefficient with the Korean version of Duke-UNC was 0.58 (P < 0.0001). Correlation coefficient with social function domain of KQOLS was 0.40 (P < 0.0001). Principal components analysis identified 3 factors. Three contents areas are family and friends networks, interdependent social support and living arrangements. CONCLUSION: Korean version of LSNS is both valid and reliable instrument, but fine refinements will be needed to adapt for use in practical settings.
Aged ; Committee Membership ; Friends ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Residence Characteristics ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires