By Kim Tae-jong
Breast cancer specialist Paik Nam-sun came nearly one hour late for an interview with this reporter earlier this month. He said he was held back in the operating room.
“The operation took longer than I expected. Sometimes, more complicated procedures are required to get the best results,” Paik said, making an apology for being late.
He has performed over 3,500 operations for the past 30 years, but he said surgery is always a tough job.
He said a good surgeon should pay keen attention to the impact the operation will have on a patients’ psychology as many women feel depressed in the wake of it.
Such belief led him to be a pioneer in the field of oncoplastic breast surgery, a combination of the latest techniques in plastic surgery with surgery for breast cancer. It aims to provide the most favorable cosmetic outcome with optimal control in the treatment of breast cancer.
“I think a good surgeon should consider enhancing the quality of patients’ lives after operations, not just focusing on prevention of cancer from returning or increase of survival rates,” he said.
He was the first Korean surgeon who carried out breast-conserving cancer surgery in Korea in 1986, despite the doubts and skepticism of his colleagues.
His devotion to patients has led him to be placed on a list of the global top 100 gastric and breast cancer surgeons by the international Biographical Center of Cambridge in the U.K. in 2006.
He had four operations that day and seven on the previous day. “I can’t simply say, ‘no more,’ as I see patients in need of my help.”
This year Paik had an important turning point in his career as he took a position to lead the nation’s only cancer center for women at the Ewha Womans University Cancer Center for Women in Mokdong, Seoul.
It has made Paik even busier these days as he has to promote the center here and abroad.
After he came to the center in May, he has always emphasized the importance of a patient-friendly atmosphere.
“I always say, we have to be a communicable person. That’s the most basic and important thing to treating a patient,” he said.
His patient-friendly philosophy seems to have been more strengthened as he himself removed his wife’s gastric cancer 11 years ago. He said it allowed him to show more sympathy on patients and their family.
But in terms of hardware, he pledged to make the center more convenient to patients.
The center now offers a rare one-stop service, under which a patient can receive all treatments and tests within a day of arriving at the hospital, and all treatments can be completed within a week.
To reduce patient’s economic and psychological burdens, the center is also equipped with Intra-Operative-Radiation Therapy for the first time in Korea, which drastically reduces the number of radiation treatments.
The combination of his reputation, patient-friendly atmosphere and advanced medical techniques and services seems to have now paid off, given the increased number of patients to the hospital.
Ever since he came to the center, the number of patients has been doubled from 60 to 120.
One of other recent breakthroughs at the center is it has obtained the Joint Commission International Accreditation Standards for Hospitals, Vesion IV. A total of 13 local hospitals have been certified with the earlier versions of the accreditation.
Now, he ambitiously said he wanted to make the center one of the most acclaimed cancer hospitals in the world, especially targeting female patients in Asia.
To promote the center, he plans to travel more to other countries to give lectures and to perform oncoplastic operations.
Paik is also well known as a doctor with many talents. His hobbies include singing jazz, reading and writing poems, and learning foreign languages.
During his inaugural ceremony held on May 16, he sang “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole in front of some 300 patients and their family members.
He can also speak English, Japanese, and Chinese fluently and started to learn Mongolian, which he believes helps him to promote the center internationally.
Apart from his role at the center as a surgeon, he said he tries to enjoy his life and it is the secret of being healthy.
When asked for tips for health life, he simply said, “Live and think positively.”
“Balanced diets and regular exercise are important to stay healthy. But what’s more important is a positive attitude toward life,” he said.