Background: Breaking the chain of disease transmission from overseas is necessary to control new infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 effectively. In this study, we developed a mobile app called Self-Symptom Checker (SSC) to monitor the health of inbound travelers. Methods: SSC was developed for general users and administrators. The functions of SSC include non-repudiation using QR (quick response) codes, monitoring fever and respiratory symptoms, and requiring persons showing symptoms to undergo polymerase chain reaction tests at nearby screening stations following a review of reported symptoms by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as well as making phone calls, via artificial intelligence or public health personnel, to individuals who have not entered symptoms to provide the necessary information. Results: From February 12 to March 27, 2020, 165,000 people who were subjected to the special entry procedure installed SSC. The expected number of public health officers and related resources needed per day would be 800 if only the phone was used to perform symptom monitoring during the above period. Conclusion By applying SSC, more effective symptom monitoring was possible. The daily average number of health officers decreased to 100, or 13% of the initial estimate. SSC reduces the work burden on public healthcare personnel. SSC is an electronic solution conceived in response to health questionnaires completed by inbound travelers specified in the World Health Organization International Health Regulations as a requirement in the event of a pandemic.

Since the last 100 years, physicians from many countries have been taking collective action. However, the media, civic groups, and the government have denounced them as inhuman and unethical. This study comprehensively analyzed the background and results of physicians’ collective actions that occurred in countries around the world, and reviewed the issues surrounding them. Among 314 cases in 70 countries discussed in the literature, 180 cases in 65 countries were analyzed. Of these 180 cases, 111 (61.7%) were successful, indicating that collective action has brought favorable results to physicians. Furthermore, 177 out of 301 requirements brought favorable results (58.8%). The main reason for collective actions was ‘improvement of working conditions’, which includes improving the medical and the reimbursement systems, adjusting working hours and wages, increasing manpower, supporting medical research, and improving other working environment and conditions. This study is significant because it provides statistical data on the causes and results of collective actions taken by physicians in countries around the world.

Purpose: The Korea Medical Licensing Exam (KMLE) typically contains a large number of items. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is a difference in the cut score between evaluating all items of the exam and evaluating only some items when conducting standard-setting. Methods: We divided the item sets that appeared on 3 recent KMLEs for the past 3 years into 4 subsets of each year of 25% each based on their item content categories, discrimination index, and difficulty index. The entire panel of 15 members assessed all the items (360 items, 100%) of the year 2017. In split-half set 1, each item set contained 184 (51%) items of year 2018 and each set from split-half set 2 contained 182 (51%) items of the year 2019 using the same method. We used the modified Angoff, modified Ebel, and Hofstee methods in the standard-setting process. Results: Less than a 1% cut score difference was observed when the same method was used to stratify item subsets containing 25%, 51%, or 100% of the entire set. When rating fewer items, higher rater reliability was observed. Conclusion When the entire item set was divided into equivalent subsets, assessing the exam using a portion of the item set (90 out of 360 items) yielded similar cut scores to those derived using the entire item set. There was a higher correlation between panelists’ individual assessments and the overall assessments.

No abstract available.
Education, Medical

Fimasartan, a new angiotensin II receptor antagonist, reduces myocyte damage and stabilizes atherosclerotic plaque through its anti-inflammatory effect in animal studies. We investigated the protective effects of pretreatment with fimasartan on ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in a mouse model of ischemic renal damage. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with or without 5 (IR-F5) or 10 (IR-F10) mg/kg/day fimasartan for 3 days. Renal ischemia was induced by clamping bilateral renal vascular pedicles for 30 min. Histology, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and apoptosis assays were evaluated 24 h after IRI. Compared to the untreated group, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine levels were significantly lower in the IR-F10 group. IR-F10 kidneys showed less tubular necrosis and interstitial fibrosis than untreated kidneys. The expression of F4/80, a macrophage infiltration marker, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, decreased in the IR-F10 group. High-dose fimasartan treatment attenuated the upregulation of TNF-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 in ischemic kidneys. Fewer TUNEL positive cells were observed in IR-F10 compared to control mice. Fimasartan caused a significant decrease in caspase-3 activity and the level of Bax, and increased the Bcl-2 level. Fimasartan preserved renal function and tubular architecture from IRI in a mouse ischemic renal injury model. Fimasartan also attenuated upregulation of inflammatory cytokines and decreased apoptosis of renal tubular cells. Our results suggest that fimasartan inhibited the process of tubular injury by preventing apoptosis induced by the inflammatory pathway.
Animals ; Apoptosis* ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Caspase 3 ; Constriction ; Creatinine ; Cytokines ; Fibrosis ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Interleukin-6 ; Interleukins ; Ischemia ; Kidney ; Macrophages ; Mice ; Muscle Cells ; Necrosis ; Plaque, Atherosclerotic ; Receptors, Angiotensin ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Up-Regulation

No abstract available.

Western medicine was first introduced to Korea by Christian missionaries and then by the Japanese in the late 19th century without its historical, philosophical, cultural, social, political, and economic values being communicated. Specifically, during the Japanese colonial era, only ideologically ‘degenerated’ medicine was taught to Koreans and the main orthodox stream of medicine was inaccessible. Hence, Korean medical education not only focuses on basic and clinical medicine, but also inherited hierarchical discrimination and structural violence. After Korea's liberation from Japan and the Korean war, the Korean medical education system was predominantly influenced by Americans and the Western medical education system was adopted by Korea beginning in the 1980s. During this time, ethical problems arose in Korean medical society and highlighted a need for medical humanities education to address them. For Korean medical students who are notably lacking humanistic and social culture, medical humanities education should be emphasized in the curriculum. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, human physicians may only be distinguishable from robot physicians by ethical consciousness; consequentially, the Korean government should invest more of its public funds to develop and establish a medical humanities program in medical colleges. Such an improved medical education system in Korea is expected to foster talented physicians who are also respectable people.
Aptitude ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Clinical Medicine ; Consciousness ; Curriculum ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Ethics, Medical ; Financial Management ; Humanities ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea ; Korean War ; Missionaries ; Rivers ; Societies, Medical ; Students, Medical ; Violence

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare the possible standard-setting methods for the Korean Radiological Technologist Licensing Examination, which has a fixed cut score, and to suggest the most appropriate method. METHODS: Six radiological technology professors set standards for 250 items on the Korean Radiological Technologist Licensing Examination administered in December 2016 using the Angoff, Ebel, bookmark, and Hofstee methods. RESULTS: With a maximum percentile score of 100, the cut score for the examination was 71.27 using the Angoff method, 62.2 using the Ebel method, 64.49 using the bookmark method, and 62 using the Hofstee method. Based on the Hofstee method, an acceptable cut score for the examination would be between 52.83 and 70, but the cut score was 71.27 using the Angoff method. CONCLUSION: The above results suggest that the best standard-setting method to determine the cut score would be a panel discussion with the modified Angoff or Ebel method, with verification of the rated results by the Hofstee method. Since no standard-setting method has yet been adopted for the Korean Radiological Technologist Licensing Examination, this study will be able to provide practical guidance for introducing a standard-setting process.
Education ; Licensure ; Methods ; Technology, Radiologic