4.Effects of Physics on Development of Optometry in the United States from the Late 19th to the Mid 20th Century.
Korean Journal of Medical History 2014;23(2):343-372
In this paper, it was studied how physics affected development of optometry in the United States, from aspects of formation and academization of optometry. It was also revealed that history of optometry was analogous to history of engineering. Optics in the 19th century was divided into electromagnetic study of light and visual optics. Development of the visual optics promoted professionalization of ophthalmology that had already started in the 18th century. The visual optics also stimulated formation of optometry and optometrists body in the late 19th century of the United States. The American optometrists body were originated from opticians who had studied visual optics. Publication of several English academic textbooks on visual optics induced appearance of educated opticians (and jewelers). They acquired a right to do the eye examination in the early 20th century after C. F. Prentice's trial in 1897, evolving into optometrists. The opticians could be considered as craftsmen, and they were divided into (dispensing) opticians and optometrists. Such history of American optometrists body is analogous to that of engineers body in the viewpoints of craftsmen origin and separation from craftsmen. Engineers were also originated from educated craftsmen, but were separated from craftsmen when engineering was built up. Education system and academization of optometry was strongly influenced by physics, too. When college education of optometry started at American universities, it was not belonged to medical school but to physics department. Physics and optics were of great importance in curriculum, and early faculty members were mostly physicists. Optometry was academized in the 1920s by the college education, standardization of curriculum, and formation of the American Academy of Optometry. This is also analogous to history of engineering, which was academized by natural sciences, especially by mathematics and physics. The reason why optometry was academized not by medicine but by physics is because ophthalmologists did not have conciliatory attitudes to optometry education. Optometry became independent of physics from the 1930s to the 1940s. Optometric researches concentrated on binocular vision that is not included to discipline of physics, and faculty members who majored in optometry increased, so that optometry departments and graduate schools were established around 1940. Such independence from natural sciences after academization also resembles history of engineering. On the contrary, history of optometry was different from history of ophthalmology in several aspects. Ophthalmology had already been formed in the 18th century before development of visual optics, and was not academized by visual optics. Ophthalmologists body were not originated from craftsmen, and were not separated from craftsmen. History of optometry in the United States from the late 19th to the mid 20th century is analogous to history of engineering rather than history of medicine, though optometry is a medical discipline.
History, 19th Century
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History, 20th Century
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Humans
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Ophthalmology/history
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Optics and Photonics/history
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Optometry/*history
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Physics/*history
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United States
5.The First Korean Doctor of Medicine in Ophthalmology: Early Career of Kong Pyung Woo (1907-1995) as an Unusual Example of Medical Profession in Colonial Korea.
Korean Journal of Medical History 2013;22(3):759-800
This article traces early career of Kong Pyung Woo, a public figure famous for being the first doctor of medicine in ophthalmology with Korean ethnicity in 1936, for founding and running the oldest and still the most successful private eye clinic in Korea since 1937, and also for his engagement in development of Korean mechanical typewriter since 1949. His case is an illustrative example of how a Korean under the Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) could build up a career to become a medical doctor, taking full advantage of the chances available. Kong, born in 1907 in a rural province in northwestern Korea, acquired a doctor's license in 1926 by passing the qualifying examination of the Government General in Korea. The qualification test was in itself an outcome of colonial education system, in which the supply of medical doctors by only a few tertiary schools could not meet the demands. After working for a state hospital for one year, Kong volunteered to be a visiting student at Keijo Medical College, to fulfill his dream of "becoming a prominent bacteriologist like Noguchi Hideyo." He was soon officially appointed as a tutor at Department of Ophthalmology, as he had been endorsed by professor Satake Shyuichi for his diligence and earnestness. Satake also encouraged Kong to pursue a doctoral degree and recommended him to Tokumitsu Yoshitomi, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Keijo Imperial University, so that Kong could experience cutting-edge research at the imperial university. Kong reported on his experiments on the pathology of chorioretinitis centralis by 1935. He submitted the reports to Nagoya Imperial University, Japan, as a doctoral thesis, and eventually obtained the degree in 1936, which was the first Korean doctor of medicine in ophthalmology. The doctorate made Kong a public figure and he opened his own private clinic in 1937. The Kong Eye Clinic was the first private eye clinic owned and run by Korean, and soon became popular in Seoul. Kong's fame as a successful practitioner gradually made him express his opinion on various social issues. Kong did not hesitate to utilize his influence to advocate the new "modern" way of living, with special emphasis on speed and efficiency. His engagement in typewriter business since 1949 may also be attributed to his firm belief in the value of speed and efficiency. Although he could not fulfill his dream of being an academic, Kong still remains as an important figure in the history of medicine in modern Korea, not only for his publicity. By closely analyzing Kong's personal story, one can see various aspects of opportunities, personal networks, social norms, and limitations within the colonial setting.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
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Chorioretinitis
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Commerce
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Education
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Education, Medical
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History of Medicine
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Hospitals, State
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Humans
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Japan
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Korea*
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Licensure
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Ophthalmology*
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Pathology
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Running
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Seoul
6.Present and future of oculoplasty.
Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2017;60(9):739-745
Ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery combines the precision of ophthalmic microsurgery with plastic and reconstructive surgical principles, allowing for subspecialized care of the eyelid, orbital, and lacrimal system. A foundation in ophthalmology allows the oculoplastic surgeon's knowledge and skills to safely and successfully protect the globe while achieving good functional and aesthetic results. Oculoplasty emerged following World War II, in which a high rate of ophthalmic and oculoplastic trauma occurred. Following this, more structured and specialized studies dedicated to clinical and surgical management led to the development of a highly specific and rapidly growing sub-specialty dedicated to eyelid, lacrimal, and orbital care. Stem cell treatments in oculoplasty has been spanned a wide array of subfields, ranging from reconstruction of the eyelid to the generation of artificial lacrimal glands and oncological therapeutics. Tissue engineering represents the future of regenerative and reconstructive medicine, with significant potential applications in ophthalmic plastic surgery. Difficulty remains in disease modeling for various disorders, owing to genetic and functional variation across patients as well as the complexity of several diseases. Progressive advances in the understanding of the immunopathogenesis of diseases such as thyroid eye disease and lacrimal gland carcinoma continue to spur clinical trials utilizing targeted therapies to enhance treatment outcomes. Continued investigation of the molecular mechanisms of disease will expand potential treatments. In the future, public awareness and interest in the field of oculoplasty will further grow, and personalized and optimized treatment will become a cornerstone of modern medicine.
Eye Diseases
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Eyelids
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Graves Ophthalmopathy
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History, Modern 1601-
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Humans
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Lacrimal Apparatus
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Microsurgery
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Ophthalmology
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Orbit
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Plastics
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Stem Cells
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Surgery, Plastic
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Thyroid Gland
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Tissue Engineering
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World War II