North Korean doctors who even transfused their own blood [walking with reporter Ahn Jeong-sik in Pyongyang]

In the last article (▶ North Korean doctors who stole medicines…free treatment, now an old saying?), we looked at the reality of broken medical care in North Korea.

However, the North Korean medical system was not backwards from the beginning.

When the country was working properly, North Korea also devoted itself to building a medical system.

This time, let's look at the North Korean medical system.

Korea's

system The main elements

Korea's health care system are the integration of the free treatment system and preventive medicine, the doctor's zone system, and Eastern and Western medicine.

In ideology, qualitative science is the basis of medical service.

The free treatment system is literally a system in which the state is fully responsible for the health of the residents for free.

Compared to capitalism, which can be cured only by paying money, the free treatment system is a system that can promote the superiority of socialism.

As North Korea built a free treatment system, it established a medical system to prevent diseases in advance, rather than simply focusing on treatment.

Preventive medicine refers to preventing illness before being treated for illness, strengthening hygiene projects, including quarantine, and providing vaccinations.

Specifically, Saturday was designated as the'Hygiene Day', and all residents carried out sanitation projects, sanitation culture creation movements, mojik life group creation movements, and disease-free Lee creation movements.

The doctor's zone system is a health management system for residents that meets the purpose of preventive medicine.

Doctors are responsible for certain residents, taking responsibility for and protecting their health.

All residents of North Korea register at hospitals or clinics in the area where they live or work and fill out a health record. Doctors conduct preventive treatment projects while systematically managing the health of residents in their area.

The Physician Zone System consists of two types: the residence management system and the workplace management system. The residents of the area in charge are managed by designating basic specialist doctors in the three fields of internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology.

Unlike the South Korean system, where Western and Oriental medicine are thoroughly separated, North Korea introduced an integrated system of Eastern and Western medicine that uses both Western and Oriental medicine in an integrated manner.

Therefore, North Korean medical students learn both Western and oriental medicine-related classes at the same time.

The ideological foundation of North Korea's medical system is'Patientology', which means that medical professionals must treat patients with all their heart.

As capitalism is not a contractual relationship that treats patients and receives money, emphasizing'sincerity' to North Korean medical personnel is an important ideological foundation that fuels the enthusiasm of medical personnel.

The qualitative science was emphasized so that medical professionals volunteered to transfuse their own blood during surgery and remove and transplant their own skin.

Under the free treatment system, patients are very grateful to their doctors, which have also played an important role in their motivation.

It means that this was done when the North Korean economy was fine and the medical system was working well.

of health workers, or medical personnel, is

North Korea.

This is because North Korea devoted its efforts to nurturing health workers to realize the free treatment system.

According to OECD data, as of 2003, the number of doctors in North Korea was 3.3 per 1,000, more than the OECD average of 3.1 and more than the average of 1.3 in 22 Asian countries.

There are also quite a few hospitals, and they are evenly distributed across administrative districts.

The average number of beds in North Korea varies according to estimates by research institutes, but it is estimated to be 132∽187 per 10,000 people.

Although recent data collection has been limited, there are studies that show that the number of beds is second only to Japan.

Hospital facilities in North Korea are divided into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th treatment facilities, and it is known that there are 4,000 to 6,000 hospitals and clinics, including 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th treatment facilities.

In North Korea, there are generally 12 6-year medical and pharmacy colleges, one in each province, and when you graduate from the medical school, you are automatically given a doctor's qualification.

It is a different system from South Korea in which doctors are qualified only after passing the National Doctor Examination.

Those who have graduated from a three-year medical school are given the status of associate doctors or pharmacists, which is one level lower than a doctor or pharmacist.

Since the medical school itself teaches specialized knowledge, there are many common courses between the medical schools in South and North Korea.

However, North Korean medical school has about 10 political ideology subjects such as Kim Il-sung's work, and oriental medicine-related subjects such as Korean medicine and acupuncture.

This is because, as mentioned earlier, the North Korean medical system is operated in a form that combines oriental and western medicine.

Also, some subjects, such as oncology and anesthesia and pain, are only offered at South Korean medical schools.

continue to study after graduation from medical school There is a system in place for doctors in North Korea to continue studying after graduation from medical school.

After graduating from medical school, you get a doctor's qualification without a separate examination, but this is only a level 6 doctor qualification.

After that, you can take a water supply test every three years and go up to a first-class doctor depending on the results.

If the test score is bad, you may not be promoted and stay at the existing level or go down.

Up to level 4, you only take a written test, but from level 3 you need to have a research achievement such as a thesis, and a corresponding treatment and prevention record and two foreign language skills.

Only doctors who have received a bachelor's (master's degree in South Korea) degree or an associate professor's degree can take the level 2 doctoral exam, and only doctors who have a doctorate degree or professor's degree can take the level 1 doctoral exam.

Because of this, most doctors often stay in level 3∽4 even if they have a long experience.

Increasing grades not only reflects your doctor's skills, but also affects your monthly salary, so all doctors work to increase grades.

Separately, all doctors must complete re-education for 3 to 6 months at the Medical School for 3 to 6 months from 5 years after graduating from the medical school.

(Photo = Captured by Chosun Central TV)