Cultural safety education emphasizes critical reflection on bias, power relations, and the structural conditions that shape healthcare encounters, and recognizes patients and communities as the subjects who define what constitutes “culturally safe” care. It moves beyond knowledge-based cultural competence by examining professional norms, institutional practices, and dominant assumptions within medicine. In Korea, medical culture has developed through a historically specific process in which Western medicine became institutionalized through Japanese colonial rule and later American influence. The authors therefore adopted the framework of cultural safety to address structurally formed power relations and contextual cultural biases in Korean medical education. This innovation report describes three educational practices implemented at two Korean medical colleges across different stages of basic medical education. At Inje University College of Medicine, a third-year cultural safety course embedded within patient safety training engaged students in dialogue with international patients, supported by guided reflection, to examine cultural bias, professional identity, and system-level tensions. At Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, a first-year communication course incorporated a cultural diversity module that combined experiential learning and reflective writing to support students in identifying unconscious bias and developing patient-centered communication. In 2025, Inje University expanded cultural safety education to first-year premedical students through a longitudinal course integrating postcolonial and stigma theories to explore social hierarchies, internalized authoritarian cultures, and colonial traces in Korean healthcare and medical education. These experiences highlight practical strategies for creating culturally safe learning environments within locally grounded medical education.

Purpose: Most of studies about racial or ethnic biases among medical students have been conducted in English-speaking developed countries. This study explores the hybridity and transformation of Korean medical students’ biases, arguing that a nation’s identity and culture are constantly in a state of ever-changing hybridity. Methods: This research used a qualitative document analysis. The study participants were 600 pre-clinical medical students at two medical colleges in Korea, who enrolled in anti-bias programs and subsequently submitted self-reflection essays. Data collection focused on biases related to race, ethnicity, nationality, and medical practices as doctors. Bhabha’s cultural hybridity concepts guided the coding of the data in order to explore the hybridity and transformation of the students’ biases. Results: The students presented cultural biases toward patients and doctors with ambivalence related to a person’s high socioeconomic status and open-mindedness, as well as doctors’ excellence and superiority as Korean authoritative figures. Since the students had ambivalent and complex biases toward patients and doctors, they felt unhomeliness as Korean doctors encountering international patients in Korean clinics. However, after discovering their contradictory assumptions, they transformed their unhomeliness into new hybrid identities. The students’ biases were rarely based on race but instead were based on nationality, specifically national class by national income. Conclusion Understanding the changing hybrid nature of identities and culture from a cultural hybridity perspective could help clarify medical students’ complex and changing biases and improve anti-bias education. Korean medical students’ hybridized positions suggest that anti-bias education goes beyond focusing on prestige or racism.

Purpose: Most of studies about racial or ethnic biases among medical students have been conducted in English-speaking developed countries. This study explores the hybridity and transformation of Korean medical students’ biases, arguing that a nation’s identity and culture are constantly in a state of ever-changing hybridity. Methods: This research used a qualitative document analysis. The study participants were 600 pre-clinical medical students at two medical colleges in Korea, who enrolled in anti-bias programs and subsequently submitted self-reflection essays. Data collection focused on biases related to race, ethnicity, nationality, and medical practices as doctors. Bhabha’s cultural hybridity concepts guided the coding of the data in order to explore the hybridity and transformation of the students’ biases. Results: The students presented cultural biases toward patients and doctors with ambivalence related to a person’s high socioeconomic status and open-mindedness, as well as doctors’ excellence and superiority as Korean authoritative figures. Since the students had ambivalent and complex biases toward patients and doctors, they felt unhomeliness as Korean doctors encountering international patients in Korean clinics. However, after discovering their contradictory assumptions, they transformed their unhomeliness into new hybrid identities. The students’ biases were rarely based on race but instead were based on nationality, specifically national class by national income. Conclusion Understanding the changing hybrid nature of identities and culture from a cultural hybridity perspective could help clarify medical students’ complex and changing biases and improve anti-bias education. Korean medical students’ hybridized positions suggest that anti-bias education goes beyond focusing on prestige or racism.

Purpose: Most of studies about racial or ethnic biases among medical students have been conducted in English-speaking developed countries. This study explores the hybridity and transformation of Korean medical students’ biases, arguing that a nation’s identity and culture are constantly in a state of ever-changing hybridity. Methods: This research used a qualitative document analysis. The study participants were 600 pre-clinical medical students at two medical colleges in Korea, who enrolled in anti-bias programs and subsequently submitted self-reflection essays. Data collection focused on biases related to race, ethnicity, nationality, and medical practices as doctors. Bhabha’s cultural hybridity concepts guided the coding of the data in order to explore the hybridity and transformation of the students’ biases. Results: The students presented cultural biases toward patients and doctors with ambivalence related to a person’s high socioeconomic status and open-mindedness, as well as doctors’ excellence and superiority as Korean authoritative figures. Since the students had ambivalent and complex biases toward patients and doctors, they felt unhomeliness as Korean doctors encountering international patients in Korean clinics. However, after discovering their contradictory assumptions, they transformed their unhomeliness into new hybrid identities. The students’ biases were rarely based on race but instead were based on nationality, specifically national class by national income. Conclusion Understanding the changing hybrid nature of identities and culture from a cultural hybridity perspective could help clarify medical students’ complex and changing biases and improve anti-bias education. Korean medical students’ hybridized positions suggest that anti-bias education goes beyond focusing on prestige or racism.

Collective actions by physicians have occurred frequently worldwide, including in Korea.The literature primarily focuses on justifying industrial actions or assessing their impact on clinical outcomes. However, few studies have examined physicians’ actions in response to government health policies. A comprehensive review of this literature could provide valuable insights into how physicians can effectively address and resolve conflicts with governments.This study aimed to investigate the existing literature on physicians’ collective actions against government health policies and identify research gaps. A scoping review was conducted based on the methodology proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. We searched for terms related to physicians (e.g., doctors, trainees) and strikes (e.g., protests, walkouts) in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, KMbase, and RISS on March 25, 2024. A total of 5,248 articles published between 1974 and 2023 were screened, and 26 articles were selected for analysis. The authors of these studies were predominantly from the fields of social sciences, history, jurisprudence, and public health administration. Physician collective actions were documented in 16 countries across various levels of development. Physicians engaged in collective action for five main reasons: 1) Opposition to socialized medicine policies, 2) Opposition to healthcare privatization policies, 3) Dissatisfaction with poor or stagnant public healthcare systems and infrastructure, 4) Resistance to unreasonable medical reforms, and 5) Protests against inequitable health workforce policies. Government responses to physician strikes followed four main strategies: 1) Unilateral policy enforcement, 2) Instigation of conflicts, 3) Suppression of physicians through unwarranted use of governmental power, and 4) Use of mediators to negotiate resolutions. These strategies were employed regardless of whether the government was authoritarian or democratic. Physicians’ strategies against government policies were categorized as 1) Strengthening physician organizations, 2) Improving public relations, 3) Disrupting government policy implementation, and 4) Reducing the available medical workforce. In conclusion, this study highlights the need for more theory-based research and greater integration of social sciences into physicians’ education. We recommend that Korean physicians reflect on the strategies used by both governments and physicians in other countries and prepare for potential conflicts.

Collective actions by physicians have occurred frequently worldwide, including in Korea.The literature primarily focuses on justifying industrial actions or assessing their impact on clinical outcomes. However, few studies have examined physicians’ actions in response to government health policies. A comprehensive review of this literature could provide valuable insights into how physicians can effectively address and resolve conflicts with governments.This study aimed to investigate the existing literature on physicians’ collective actions against government health policies and identify research gaps. A scoping review was conducted based on the methodology proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. We searched for terms related to physicians (e.g., doctors, trainees) and strikes (e.g., protests, walkouts) in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, KMbase, and RISS on March 25, 2024. A total of 5,248 articles published between 1974 and 2023 were screened, and 26 articles were selected for analysis. The authors of these studies were predominantly from the fields of social sciences, history, jurisprudence, and public health administration. Physician collective actions were documented in 16 countries across various levels of development. Physicians engaged in collective action for five main reasons: 1) Opposition to socialized medicine policies, 2) Opposition to healthcare privatization policies, 3) Dissatisfaction with poor or stagnant public healthcare systems and infrastructure, 4) Resistance to unreasonable medical reforms, and 5) Protests against inequitable health workforce policies. Government responses to physician strikes followed four main strategies: 1) Unilateral policy enforcement, 2) Instigation of conflicts, 3) Suppression of physicians through unwarranted use of governmental power, and 4) Use of mediators to negotiate resolutions. These strategies were employed regardless of whether the government was authoritarian or democratic. Physicians’ strategies against government policies were categorized as 1) Strengthening physician organizations, 2) Improving public relations, 3) Disrupting government policy implementation, and 4) Reducing the available medical workforce. In conclusion, this study highlights the need for more theory-based research and greater integration of social sciences into physicians’ education. We recommend that Korean physicians reflect on the strategies used by both governments and physicians in other countries and prepare for potential conflicts.

Purpose: Most of studies about racial or ethnic biases among medical students have been conducted in English-speaking developed countries. This study explores the hybridity and transformation of Korean medical students’ biases, arguing that a nation’s identity and culture are constantly in a state of ever-changing hybridity. Methods: This research used a qualitative document analysis. The study participants were 600 pre-clinical medical students at two medical colleges in Korea, who enrolled in anti-bias programs and subsequently submitted self-reflection essays. Data collection focused on biases related to race, ethnicity, nationality, and medical practices as doctors. Bhabha’s cultural hybridity concepts guided the coding of the data in order to explore the hybridity and transformation of the students’ biases. Results: The students presented cultural biases toward patients and doctors with ambivalence related to a person’s high socioeconomic status and open-mindedness, as well as doctors’ excellence and superiority as Korean authoritative figures. Since the students had ambivalent and complex biases toward patients and doctors, they felt unhomeliness as Korean doctors encountering international patients in Korean clinics. However, after discovering their contradictory assumptions, they transformed their unhomeliness into new hybrid identities. The students’ biases were rarely based on race but instead were based on nationality, specifically national class by national income. Conclusion Understanding the changing hybrid nature of identities and culture from a cultural hybridity perspective could help clarify medical students’ complex and changing biases and improve anti-bias education. Korean medical students’ hybridized positions suggest that anti-bias education goes beyond focusing on prestige or racism.

Collective actions by physicians have occurred frequently worldwide, including in Korea.The literature primarily focuses on justifying industrial actions or assessing their impact on clinical outcomes. However, few studies have examined physicians’ actions in response to government health policies. A comprehensive review of this literature could provide valuable insights into how physicians can effectively address and resolve conflicts with governments.This study aimed to investigate the existing literature on physicians’ collective actions against government health policies and identify research gaps. A scoping review was conducted based on the methodology proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. We searched for terms related to physicians (e.g., doctors, trainees) and strikes (e.g., protests, walkouts) in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, KMbase, and RISS on March 25, 2024. A total of 5,248 articles published between 1974 and 2023 were screened, and 26 articles were selected for analysis. The authors of these studies were predominantly from the fields of social sciences, history, jurisprudence, and public health administration. Physician collective actions were documented in 16 countries across various levels of development. Physicians engaged in collective action for five main reasons: 1) Opposition to socialized medicine policies, 2) Opposition to healthcare privatization policies, 3) Dissatisfaction with poor or stagnant public healthcare systems and infrastructure, 4) Resistance to unreasonable medical reforms, and 5) Protests against inequitable health workforce policies. Government responses to physician strikes followed four main strategies: 1) Unilateral policy enforcement, 2) Instigation of conflicts, 3) Suppression of physicians through unwarranted use of governmental power, and 4) Use of mediators to negotiate resolutions. These strategies were employed regardless of whether the government was authoritarian or democratic. Physicians’ strategies against government policies were categorized as 1) Strengthening physician organizations, 2) Improving public relations, 3) Disrupting government policy implementation, and 4) Reducing the available medical workforce. In conclusion, this study highlights the need for more theory-based research and greater integration of social sciences into physicians’ education. We recommend that Korean physicians reflect on the strategies used by both governments and physicians in other countries and prepare for potential conflicts.

Collective actions by physicians have occurred frequently worldwide, including in Korea.The literature primarily focuses on justifying industrial actions or assessing their impact on clinical outcomes. However, few studies have examined physicians’ actions in response to government health policies. A comprehensive review of this literature could provide valuable insights into how physicians can effectively address and resolve conflicts with governments.This study aimed to investigate the existing literature on physicians’ collective actions against government health policies and identify research gaps. A scoping review was conducted based on the methodology proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. We searched for terms related to physicians (e.g., doctors, trainees) and strikes (e.g., protests, walkouts) in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, KMbase, and RISS on March 25, 2024. A total of 5,248 articles published between 1974 and 2023 were screened, and 26 articles were selected for analysis. The authors of these studies were predominantly from the fields of social sciences, history, jurisprudence, and public health administration. Physician collective actions were documented in 16 countries across various levels of development. Physicians engaged in collective action for five main reasons: 1) Opposition to socialized medicine policies, 2) Opposition to healthcare privatization policies, 3) Dissatisfaction with poor or stagnant public healthcare systems and infrastructure, 4) Resistance to unreasonable medical reforms, and 5) Protests against inequitable health workforce policies. Government responses to physician strikes followed four main strategies: 1) Unilateral policy enforcement, 2) Instigation of conflicts, 3) Suppression of physicians through unwarranted use of governmental power, and 4) Use of mediators to negotiate resolutions. These strategies were employed regardless of whether the government was authoritarian or democratic. Physicians’ strategies against government policies were categorized as 1) Strengthening physician organizations, 2) Improving public relations, 3) Disrupting government policy implementation, and 4) Reducing the available medical workforce. In conclusion, this study highlights the need for more theory-based research and greater integration of social sciences into physicians’ education. We recommend that Korean physicians reflect on the strategies used by both governments and physicians in other countries and prepare for potential conflicts.

OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that tobacco exposure is associated with elevated blood pressure (EBP) in Korean adolescents, and that the association is dose dependent. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2011-2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (KNHANES). Subjects were eligible if they were 13-18 years at the time of participation in KNHANES. Tobacco exposure was defined by urine cotinine level. The main outcomes were EBP and hypertension. Statistical analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4 with appropriate sampling weights to account for the complex survey design, stratification, and cluster variable. RESULTS: A total of 2,518 adolescents was included in the analysis, representing 2.5 million Korean adolescents. The mean± standard deviation participant age was 15.3±1.7 years, and 55.3% were male. The number of participants with active tobacco smoke exposure was 283 (11.2%), passive tobacco smoke exposure was 145 (5.8%), and no smoke exposure was 2,090 (83.0%). Analysis of the 2,518 urine-cotinine-verified participants showed that tobacco smoke exposure had a significant effect on EBP: with an odds of elevated blood pressure of 3.00 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 7.89). The odds of hypertension were 3.61 (95% CI, 1.13 to 11.49) in the active smoking group compared with the no tobacco exposure group after adjustment for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to present a range of public health plans to reduce tobacco exposure that affects adolescents’ blood pressure, and further research with a larger number of participants using urine cotinine as a biomarker is needed.