Hallym University

Medical Center

Hallym University

College of Medicine

Hallym University

 Hallym University College of Medicine

The College of Medicine at Hallym University has been established by the Ilsong Foundation in 1982 under the leadership of the late Dr. Duck-Sun Yoon, a very famous general surgeon in Korea. The College of Medicine is financially supported by the Ilsong Foundation including Hallym Medical Center.

Hallym Medical College operates premedical courses for 2 years and medical courses for 4 years. The class size is 80 students in each year. We also have graduate courses: B.S. in Medicine and Ph.D. in Medicine.

Students in the premedical courses receive introduction to liberal arts and science. We also provide them with cell biology and molecular biology for early exposure to basic medical science.

The first year of the medical course provide students with basic scientific knowledge on the human body under the rubrics of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology, Pharmacology and Parasitology. In addition, Departments of Genetics and Social Medicine provide students with influences of genetic and socio-environmental factors on human life.

During three semesters (two semesters in the second year and the first semester in the third year) after the first year, clinical medicine is introduced to students by means of 13 organ-based integrated blocks: Hemato-oncology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Cardio-vascular system, Endocrine & Metabolism, Reproductive system, Nephrology, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Growth & Development, Infection & Clinical Immunology, and Bone & Muscle. Students are also introduced to the care of patients and clinical ethics.

During the second semester of the third year (16 weeks), students serve clinical clerkships in the major specialties: Internal Medicine (I), 4 weeks; Surgery 4 weeks; Pediatrics, 4 weeks and Obstetrics/Gynecology, 4 weeks each. The first semester of the fourth year (22 weeks) also provides the student with the clerkships in other specialties: Internal Medicine (II), 4 weeks; Psychiatry, 3 weeks, Ambulatory care, 2 weeks; Radiology, 2 weeks and 11 minor specialties, 1 week each. The clerkships are conducted by clinical departments at 5 general hospitals belonging to the Hallym Medical Center. Elective courses in the second semester of the fourth year supplement the preceding components introduced in the course of integrated blocks.

We have 38 faculty members in the basic medical sciences. Every department of the basic medical sciences has its own laboratory that is well equipped for biomedical research. Research activities of the faculty members are so high that they have published 216 distinguished research papers in Journals registered in SCI during the last two years. Some of them are enclosed.

We have out-standing institutes for biomedical research. The Ilsong Institute of Life Science (Director: Yong-Sun Kim, M.D., Ph.D.), which is also financially supported by the Ilsong Foundation. The Korea National Institute of Health (KNIH) has assigned the Ilsong Institute to the Korea CJD Diagnostic Center (KCJDC) in June 2001. The Ilsong Institute has diagnosed about 100 kinds of human prion diseases-suspected sample using several pathologic and molecular biological methods. The Ministry of Health & Welfare, Korea has also assigned the Ilsong Institute to the Research Center for Aging Mechanism and Development of Biotechnology for Aging Control in July 2002. The Ilsong Institute will become a basis to make the mechanisms of aging process clear and to contrive effective strategies for delay and / or prevention of aging. The six faculty members of the Ilsong Institute have published 62 distinguished research papers in Journals registered in SCI during the last five years. Some of them are enclosed.

The Institute of Natural Medicine (Dong-Keun Song, M.D., Ph.D.) has been focusing on two research fields. One is on preventive or therapeutic applications of natural medicinal plant resources to diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, pain, and inflammatory disorders. The other is on nociception and analgesia. The Institute of Natural Medicine has been funded from The Ministry of Education & Human Resources, Korea and industries. The four faculty members of The Institute of Natural Medicine have published over 50 distinguished research papers in Journals registered in SCI during the last five years. Some of them are enclosed.

The Hallym Experimental Animal Center (Director: Yang-Seok Oh, D.V. M., Ph.D.) is also a proud institute in our medical school. The Experimental Animal Center, which is a firstly established experimental animal center in Korea, supplies research animals including so many kinds of disease models to researchers not only in our University but also in other Universities and institutes. List of the animal models is enclosed.

Korean government has designated The Hallym University as a university specializing in studies on aging. In financial support from The Ministry of Education & Human Resources, Korea, The Institute of Aging Biotechnology (Soo-Young Choi, Ph.D.) has established undergraduate and graduate courses of Gerontology and Geriatrics. The Institute has been publishing the Hallym International Journal of Aging (editors, Hyunsook Yoon, Ph.D., Hallym University and Jon Hendricks, Ph.D., Oregon State University) to encourage studies on the aged. The Korean Science & Engineering Foundation has assigned The Regional Research Center for Silver Industry (Director: Hyun-Kyung Shin, Ph.D.) to develop biotechnology for silver industry.

The Hallym Institute of Genome Application (Director: Kyung-Wha Lee, Ph.D.) is a newly established institute in the Hallym Medical Center. The Institute will perform studies on clinical application of genome related to HLA and tubercle bacillus. The Institute is financially supported by the Hallym Medical Center and The Ministry of Health & Welfare, Korea.

We have 410 faculty members in the clinical medicine, who work in 5 general hospitals belonging to the Hallym Medical Center. Total bed size of the Hallym Medical Center is over 3,200. Annual number of outpatients and inpatients of the Hallym Medical Center are 1,852,310 and 1,020,665, respectively. Thus, we have enough facilities and patients for clinical teaching and research. In addition, the Hallym Medical Center has several centers for patient care and clinical studies.

The Burn Center, the Center for Auditory Disorders, The Cardiac Center for heart diseases and surgery, the Organ Transplantation Center for transplantation of the liver and kidney, the Gastrointestinal Center for GI cancers, liver diseases and pancreatic diseases are distinct clinical centers.

Although our medical school is so young, our medical school is ranked in upper 10 among 43 medical schools in Korea. On the 20th anniversary of Hallym University, Dr. Yoon, announced that the Ilsong Foundation will make its best efforts to raise the Hallym University to a considerable international level. Thus, It is believed that our medical school will certainly be developed to a decent international level pretty soon.

 [November 1, 2002]