In-Hyo Park
Co-existence and/or Co-operation? 'Co-operative Treatment' of Traditional Korean Medicine and Biomedicine in South Korea: Case Study at 'Oriental' Hospitals in South Korea
The last several decades have witnessed worldwide a remarkable development of co-operation between Western biomedicine and complimentary & alternative medicine. In my doctoral dissertation, I will examine how and to what extent biomedicine and traditional Korean medicine (TKM) coexist and cooperate with each other, and how they work together in spite of different viewpoints on health and illness during the medical treatments in hospitals in South Korea, where two sectors are legally divided very strictly and equally authorized and respected to the public in terms of medical knowledge, and the degree of institutionalization and professionalization in the health care system. Herewith the debates on medical pluralism, which refers to 'the co-existence in a society of differing medical traditions, grounded in different principles or based on different world-views' (Gabe, Bury & Elston, (2004), 'Key Concepts in Medical Sociology', pp.183), developed in the discipline of medical anthropology since 1970s reflecting growing interests in complimentary & alternative medicine, will be considered as the main theoretical framework for the research. When dealing with the issues around medicine, this study will focus mainly on the cultural aspects of it: the practical process of diagnostics and treatments performed by physicians and therapists to patients in hospitals, rather than medicine as a form of scientific knowledge. In order to analyze the situation in the clinical and practical level, I will go on to carry out the case study at 'Oriental' hospitals in Busan and Seoul, where both TKM and biomedical doctors work in the same place under the name of 'co-operative treatment', including in-depth interviews with medical scientists and practioners, and participant-observation during medical treatments in there. With regard to the specific research area, the diagnoses and treatments of patients with 'Rheumatoid Arthritis', which is one of the most common diseases that both TKM and biomedical doctors deal with, will be mainly focused.
Supervisor
Professor Dr. Gunnar Stolberg
Curriculum Vitae
- 04/2010 - 09/2012
- BGHS Scholarship
- Since 10/2009
- PhD Student in Sociology at Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS), University of Bielefeld, Germany.
- Since 06/2009
- German interpreter for the Vojta Therapy training course for physiotherapists, Seoul Community Rehabilitation Center, South Korea
- 01/2009
- Passed the State Examination and acquired physiotherapy license, Busan, South Korea.
- 01/2008 - 08/2009
- German & English interpreter for the Manual Therapy training courses for physiotherapists, The Korean Functional Manual Therapy Association, Daegu, South Korea.
- 03/2007 - 02/2009
- Bachelor of Health Science in Physical Therapy at Catholic University of Pusan, Busan, South Korea.
- 11/2005 - 03/2006
- Research assistant at the department of Preventive Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu, South Korea.
- 10/2001 - 10/2005
- Master of Arts in European Culture and Economy at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany (major subject: Sociology) The title of Master thesis:"Women's Movement and Nationalism: The Debates on the Relationship between Nation/Nationalism and Gender/Women's Movement, the Case of South Korea".
- 10/2000 - 09/2001
- Exchange student at Technical University of Munich (major subject: Sociology of Technology)
- 01 - 12/1999
- Exchange Student at Liverpool Hope University College, Liverpool, UK (major subject: History, Sociology)
- 10/1997 - 06/1998
- Teaching Assistant at General Education English Program (GEEP), Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea.
- 03/1993 - 08/2000
- Bachelor of Arts in History (major) and Sociology (minor) at Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea (Cum Laude).
- 03/1990 - 02/1993
- Kyungnam Senior High School, Busan, South Korea.
