“Korea University (KU) Medicine has been practicing values such as saving the nation through education movement, fraternity, and social contributions that were not found in any medical institution. This is the reason why we exist. We will start a new chapter by continuing the history of the last century and moving towards a new 100 years of ultra-elite KU Medicine.”

Kim Young-hoon, the 15th president and CEO of Medical Center and executive vice president for medical affairs at KU Medicine, said so while unveiling his visions for KU Medicine during his inauguration ceremony at Yugwangsa Hall of Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, on Friday.

Kim Young-hoon, the 15th president and CEO of Medical Center and executive vice president for medical affairs at KU Medicine, speaks in his inauguration ceremony at Yugwangsa Hall of Korea University College of Medicine in Seoul, on Friday.

Under the Japanese colonial rule in the early 1900s, KU Medicine was influenced by national leaders who led the Save the Nation through Education Movement in 1905, according to Kim.

In 1928, KU Medicine started as the nation’s first medical school to nurture women physicians, who were socially vulnerable. In 1979, the medical institution continued to protect the marginalized by building hospital branches in industrial complexes and rural areas of Guro, Banwol, and Yeoju where access to medical care was sparse due to the industrialization, Kim said.

“I have lived as a specialist in heart disease and arrhythmia for the past 30 years, and the ‘first-class spirit’ was the value that has made me now,” Kim said. “Let’s work together to dream of becoming the best of the best.”

He set three goals to make KU Medicine an ultra-elite institution – the best medicine, the best personnel, and the best value.

Above all, Kim vowed to use a “The 10 Best” strategy to provide the nation’s best healthcare service in 10 areas within a decade.

KU Medicine plans to apply advanced digital technologies, such as 5G, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, to all affiliated hospitals, including the state-of-the-art Convergence Medical Center being built in Anam Campus, the Advanced Outpatient Care Center to be built in Guro Campus from February next year, and Ansan Campus. By doing so, it hopes its affiliated hospitals can become the optimal testbeds for precision medicine and AI-based medical care.

Kim also said the institution would seek collaborations with excellent talents at Korea University’s other departments, businesses in Guro G-Valley, Asan Science Valley, and nearby universities.

“To become the best of the best, we need to strengthen our expertise where Korea University College of Medicine is already leading,” Kim said.

He said it would encourage a “pioneer branding” strategy to help people associate particular diseases with Korea University. He would focus on nurturing special areas that weigh disease burdens on Korean society and hire elite professionals, he added.

In the research area, KU Medicine plans to make all the affiliated hospitals become “research-centered hospitals.”

As KU Medicine produced the first local general hospital to get the international certification (ISO14155) to provide clinical trials to assess medical devices, it would attract local and foreign clinical studies on medical devices and accelerate the medical device business, Kim said.

“If Anam, Guro, and Ansan Hospitals are designated as research-centered hospitals, we will be the only medical institution that all affiliated hospitals become research-centered hospitals,” Kim said.

He said he would empower KU Medicine’s technology holdings company and challenge to treat intractable diseases around the globe with new drugs and medical devices developed by KU Medicine.

In the education area, Kim pledged to provide future-oriented medical education.

To nurture “decent talents like Korea University people,” Kim vowed to enhance education for the three affiliated hospitals and establish “education governance” to help KU Medicine become a reputable provider of academic medicine ranging from college medicine education to residency training.

Lastly, he said he planned to build a hospital specializing in diseases caused by fine dust in the KU Medicine Cheongdam-dong Campus, now being built in southern Seoul.

Also, KU Medicine would launch a social contribution team and push for inter-Korean healthcare cooperation for a healthy Korean Peninsula community, he added.

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