A fruit of the Minnesota Project

/Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho

‘The humanitarian aid reshaped Korea's medicine and my life'

By Jung Min-ho, Kim Eil-chul

Korea's medical infrastructure was somewhere between crumbling and non-existent in the 1950s after the Korean War (1950-1953) had ravaged the nation.

To help Korea improve its medical infrastructure, the University of Minnesota sent experts in different medical fields to Seoul National University (SNU) from 1955 to 1961 as part of the Minnesota Project. Sponsored by the U.S. government, the project aimed to help the nation stand on its own feet by improving its medical, engineering and agricultural infrastructures.

Among the 59 experts was Edmund B. Flink, the first doctor to teach endocrinology at SNU in 1957. Although his students were smart and passionate, they could not understand half of what he taught because he spoke in English.

"We all flunked the first exam in his class," Choi Young-kil, now known as the father of endocrinology in Korea, said in an interview. "This is the first thing I remember about the Minnesota Project, which changed Korean medicine and my life forever."

Before the project, students learned modern medicine largely through German textbooks. "This is because many Japanese doctors were trained in Germany in the early 20th century, when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule," he said.

Flink liked Choi, who studied hard and asked him many questions. "Even when I did not have questions, I kept following him around. That's how we became close," Choi said.

Choi Young-kil sits with his former professor Edmund B. Flink at a restaurant in Seoul during the American doctor's visit to Korea in 1971 / Courtesy of Choi Young-kil

As part of the project, 226 SNU professors had an opportunity to study at the University of Minnesota. Most of those selected were senior professors, but thanks to a special invitation from Flink, Choi also got on an airplane to the U.S.

Endocrinology was a burgeoning field at that time. Under the guidance of Flink, Choi learned not only its clinical side but also about scientific research, "something I did not experience in Korea," Choi said.

For a person who was born and raised in one of the world's poorest countries at that time, America's excellent academic environment was mind-blowing, to say the least. In the late 1950s, Korea's gross domestic product per capita was less than $100. Most people lived in grinding poverty, and many suffered or died from preventable and curable diseases, if not malnutrition.

"Back then, Korean doctors could accurately diagnose fewer than 10 internal diseases," Choi said. "And when I saw doctors doing brain and heart surgery in the U.S., I was amazed and motivated."

He studied day and night at West Virginia University School of Medicine, to which Flink later moved. With a sincere and diligent attitude, he earned the respect of the professors and other students.

After spending three years at the school, Choi decided to study further. In 1965, he moved to the University of Cincinnati, which was best-known in the field of steroid hormones. He trained there for five more years under Emile Werk, a renowned scholar in the field.

Choi returned to Korea in 1970, after accepting a job offer from the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine. Since then, he has shared his expertise in internal medicine and, in particular, endocrine diseases such as diabetes.

Some of the Korean scholars of the Minnesota Project eventually settled in the U.S., while others returned to Korea to improve the nation's medical infrastructure and train other medical professionals.

Apart from Choi, some of the other famous doctors who returned are Lee Hon-hwang, who discovered the Hantavirus, which can cause fatal diseases in humans, and Hong Chang-eui, who authored Korea's first pediatric medicine textbook.

"The Minnesota Project successfully modernized Korean medicine and treated many patients who would otherwise not be cured," Choi said. "The project was an important seed that helped the nation's healthcare industry grow into what it is today.

"Korea should not forget the kindness it received and carry on the Minnesota spirit."

Roger Guillemin, a Nobel Prize laureate in physiology and medicine in 1977, visits Kyung Hee Medical Center as a special lecturer in 1982. / Courtesy of Choi Young-kil

Developing the scientific mind

After years of training at some of the world's finest medical institutions, Choi returned to Korea in 1970 and faced the shocking reality of the country's medical system.

"There was no science in the methods of diagnosing and treating diseases. Worse, many professors appeared to be just fine with the situation," he said. "I realized that I had a lot to work on."

Because hospitals in Korea at the time did not yet have a division system, doctors were expected to diagnose and treat any diseases. "My job was to treat those who were sick for unclear reasons. With a lack of medical diagnostic devices and doctors capable of doing the job, many people came to see me from across the country," Choi said.

In the course of treating various patients, he discovered the first cases of some diseases in the nation, including immotile cilia syndrome, a rare congenital disorder characterized by abnormal ciliary motion, impaired mucociliary clearance and infertility. He shared his discoveries with other doctors across the country through papers published in medical journals and discussion at conferences.

While working for the Catholic Medical Center and Kyung Hee Medical Center from 1970 to 2002, he also helped the hospitals set up their medical systems for both clinical and research practices.

"Some of the surgeons here, including the U.S.-educated ones, were great. Yet many patients died because Korean hospitals still lacked systems for postoperative care," he said. "We had to reform and improve pretty much everything we had."

Meanwhile, he continued to study steroid hormones and published more than 300 papers in international journals.

"Above all, I put my heart in educating students, who I believe would lead the future of Korean medicine," he said.

By using his connection with scholars at U.S. medical institutions, including physiology and medicine Nobel Prize laureate Roger Guillemin, Choi helped his students study abroad. Also thanks to Choi, many Koreans had the opportunity to study at the Salk Institute, where Guillemin worked.

He said nurturing students was the most rewarding aspect of his career. Some of the nation's most famous internal medicine doctors today, including Kim Kwang-won, Park won-geun, Son ho-young and Woo Jung-taek, were his former students.

"They have played a pivotal role in developing Korean medicine in their fields," he said. "I'm glad that I played a role in enabling them do so."