PURPOSE: We wanted to further analyze the qualities that influence Korean medical students on their decision to choose each of the specialized areas of medicine. METHODS: We were able to obtain questionnaires from 394 students of Y University, School of Medicine. The students rated the various influential factors for specialty selection by using a five-point Likert scale. RESULTS: The factors found to influence the selection of popular specialties were gender, grades/scores, lifestyle attributes, and residency issues. Patient contact, lifestyle attributes, prospects, income prospects, and health care policies were significantly rated factors for choosing clinical-oriented specialties. For the selection of Medical specialties, gender, income, social responsibilities, income prospects, and malpractice insurance costs were the influential factors. Gender, 3rd year students, social responsibilities, prospects, income prospects, and society's views on medical profession affected the students' decisions to choose the major specialties. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of our study, we can conclude that gender and income prospects are some of the most significant factors affecting a student's selection of a specialty. These results suggest reform and improvement for a more stable health care policy and management strategies.
Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Insurance ; Internship and Residency ; Life Style ; Malpractice ; Social Responsibility ; Students, Medical* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: Because effective decolonization options are not available, and treatment options are limited, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) constitute increasingly threatening nosocomial pathogens. To prevent CRE-associated transmission and ensure patient safety, healthcare personnel and everyone in contact with CRE-infected patients must implement stringent infection control practices. This report describes a CRE outbreak, possibly related to a caregiver at a long-term care facility (LTCF), and presents a new surveillance model to improve the infection control of CRE in Seoul, Korea. METHODS: The Seoul Metropolitan Government surveillance system identified an outbreak of CRE in an LTCF in 2022. We obtained data on the demographic characteristics and contact histories of the inpatients, medical staff, and caregivers. To isolate the inpatients and employees exposed to CRE, we used rectal swab samples and environmental sampling during the study period (May-December 2022). RESULTS: We identified 18 cluster cases (1 caregiver and 17 inpatients) and 12 sporadic cases with CRE, and conducted a complete 197-day follow-up of all cases in the LTCF’s isolation wards. CONCLUSIONS This investigation demonstrated that our surveillance model and targeted intervention, based on the cooperation of the municipal government, public health center, and infection control advisory committee, effectively contained the epidemic at the LTCF. Measures to improve the compliance of all employees in LTCFs with infection control guidelines should also be adopted.

PURPOSE: This study retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcomes and complications of proton beam therapy (PBT) in a single institution in Korea and quantitatively analyzed the change in tumor volume after PBT using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four treatment-naïve patients who underwent PBT for choroidal melanoma between 2009 and 2015 were reviewed. Dose fractionation was 60-70 cobalt gray equivalents over 5 fractions. Orbital MRIs were taken at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after PBT and annually thereafter. The tumor volume was reconstructed and evaluated by stacking the tumor boundary in each thin-sliced axial T1-weighted image using MIM software. RESULTS: The median follow-up duration was 36.5 months (range, 9 to 82 months). One patient had suspicious local progression and two patients had distant metastasis. The 3-year local progression-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and overall survival rates were 95.8%, 95.8%, and 100%,respectively. Five Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event ver. 4.03 grade 3-4 toxicities were observed in four patients (16.7%), including one with neovascular glaucoma. The mean tumor volume at the baseline MRI was 0.565±0.084 mL (range, 0.074 to 1.610 mL), and the ratios of the mean volume at 3, 6, and 12 months to that at baseline were 81.8%, 67.3%, and 60.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The local controlrate and complication profile after PBT in patientswith choroidal melanoma in Korea were comparable with those reported in a previous PBT series. The change in tumor volume after PBT exhibited a gradual regression pattern on MRI.
Choroid* ; Cobalt ; Disease-Free Survival ; Dose Fractionation ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glaucoma, Neovascular ; Humans ; Korea* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Melanoma* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Orbit ; Proton Therapy* ; Protons* ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Treatment Outcome ; Tumor Burden