Historical development of Women's Medical Training Institute in Seoul, Korea, between 1928 to 1938, which had been elevated to the Kyongsong Women's Medical College in Seoul. Korea, under the Japanese Imperial Government will be presented. The College, after flew changes of its policies, finally became as Medical College of the Korea University in 1971. Dr. Rosetta Sherwood Hall, a medical missionary from New York who had spent for 44 years in Korea, witnessed the necessity of having woman doctors in Korea in order to save those shy Korean ladies silently suffering from sickness. As an initial step to implement women's medical education, Dr. R.S. Hall together with Drs. Kil Chung-Hee and Kim Tak-Won founded the Chosun Women's Medical Training Institute in 1928, with a purpose to eventually elevate it to a Women's Medical School. The Institute had a five-years course of curriculum with one year of pre-medical and four years of medical education. In 1933, Dr. Hall, at the age of 66, had to retire and return to America. Therefore, the management of the Institute had been transferred to Drs. Kim T.W and Kil C.H., but under a new name of Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute, upon the request from Japanese Government. The Institute had moved to a new location and continued to expand its curriculum, and furthermore, a hospital had been annexed. In order to elevate the Institute to a medical school, a committee had been formed in 1934, and pursued its goal very actively, as had been reported in several newspapers in those days. The organizing committee members were consisted of over 70 prominent Koreans from all walks of life with Mr. Park Young-Hyo as the chairman, naturally, Japanese Government had felt such a movement distasteful, as evidenced by the fact that they even attempted to abolish pre-existing educational organization for Koreans. A notable philanthropist Mr. Kim Chong-Ik joined as an active member of the above committee in 1936. However, unexpectedly, Mr. Kim C.I. became ill and passed away on May 1937 with his will to promote the Institute to a Women's Medical College, leaving a large sum of assets. The following year 1938, the Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute had been elevated to the Kyongsong Women's Medical College and both the students and various teaching materials of the Institute had been transferred to the Medical College. Although Japanese took over total management of the College and those members who set the important ground work for that Medical College were rejected to join as an active member, their management only lasted for 7 years until Korea liberated from the Japanese ruling on August 15, 1945.
English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Korea ; Physicians, Women/*history ; Schools, Medical/*history

As early as in the 6th year of King Taejo of the Ch sen Dynasty(1406), there emerged a medical training organization which turned out women doctors who would engage in the treatment of diseases for women and conduct the service of midwifery. Of course the healing art those women doctors adopted at that time was Oriental medicine, and due to the strict Confucian prejudice against women, the medical treatment for women did not go beyond the limit of home treatment. Such being the situation. from the viewpoint of Western medicine, it is hard to say that there existed women doctors in Korea before the advent of the Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute. Such social situations and the customs peculiar to the Korean women badly required the existence of women doctors. However, the Ch sen Government-General which was the ruler of the Korean Peninsula at that time, was quite indifferent to the urgent need. In the meantime, Dr. Rosetta S. Hall, an American Methodistic woman doctor, fully aware of these situations through her long experience of medical service for Korean women privately encouraged Korean women to study medicine while personally conducting medical education for them by establishing a medical training institute. At that time, Kil Chung-Hee, a woman doctor, and her husband Dr. Kim Tak-Won actively supported Dr. Hall for educational work for women. They succeeded to the work of operating the training institute established by Dr. Hall and made strenuous efforts to get it elevated to the status of a women's medical college. There was active participation in their undertaking and a committee for the formation of a foundation was organized. When the attainment of the goal was imminent Kim Chong-Ik a man of seat wealth from Sunchon, Chulla South Province, willed a Japanese a large amount of money totaling six hundred and fifty thousand won (three hundred thousand won as a fund for the establishment of a women's medical college and three hundred and fifty thousand won for the starting of a T.B. sanatorium). Thus, the Women's Medical College was opened by the hand of the Japanese. Fortunately, however, the faculty was composed of young and enthusiastic Korean doctors, among whom were professors with great interest in Women's education. This resulted in the illusion to some degree of Korean national spirit into the mind of the students who were forced to receive Japanization education. In consideration of these points, the acquirement of fund for the establishment of the Kyongsong Women's Medical College was made possible by the efforts of Kim Tak-Won who endeavored to promote the Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute to the status of a regular college, the activities of the College Establishment Committee and the generosity of Kim Chong-Ik who was moved by the enthusiastic activities of the Committee. In this regard it may not be wrong to say that even though the Kyongsong Women's Medical College was opened by the Japanese due to the requirement of the times, it was a continuation of the Kyongsong Women's Medical Training Institute because the educational philosophy of the professors of the former was the same as that of the professors of the latter.
Education, Medical/*history ; English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 19th Cent. ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Korea ; Physicians, Women/*history