Perspectives on Medical Services Integration among Conventional Western, Traditional Korean, and Dual-Licensed Medical Doctors in Korea.
Junghwa Lim, Youngju Yun, Sangyeoup Lee, Younghye Cho, Han Chae
Author Information
Junghwa Lim: Division of Neuropsychiatry, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
Youngju Yun: Division of Integrative Medicine, School of Korean Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
Sangyeoup Lee: Medical Education Unit and Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, Republic of Korea ; Family Medicine Clinic and Research Institute of Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
Younghye Cho: Family Medicine Clinic and Research Institute of Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
Han Chae: Division of Longevity and Biofunctional Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Republic of Korea.
The aim of this study was to examine the perspectives on the options for the integration of western and traditional Korean medical services among three types of medical doctors with different disciplines in Korea. We surveyed and analyzed responses from 167 conventional Western medicine (WM), 135 traditional Korean medicine (KM), and 103 dual-licensed (DL) doctors who can practice both. All three kinds of doctors shared similar attitude toward license unitarization. KM doctors most strongly agreed on the need of the cooperative practice (CP) between KM and WM and on the possibility of license unitarization among three groups. DL doctors believed that CP is currently impracticable and copractice is more efficient than CP. WM doctors presented the lowest agreement on the need of CP and showed lower expectation for DL doctors as mediators between WM and KM than others. This study showed the difference of perspectives on the options for the integrative medical services among three different doctor groups in Korea. More studies are required to explore the underlying reasons for these discrepancies among WM, KM, and DL doctors.
