FROM THE PUBLISHER
Greetings! 2018 has already been a remarkable year. South Korea hosted an exciting Winter Olympics which has increased the dialogue between the two Koreas as they marched together and competed as a unified team in hockey. The heat of the Winter Olympics thawed the cold relations between the two Koreas as well as between the US and North Korea. Like the Olympic sport of curling, there seems to be a smoothing path at play as the top leaders plan to meet in order to clear out the past obscurity.
While the Olympic Games in South Korea has come to an end, the progression of Korean medicine and healthcare still marches on. In the cover story of this edition, we featured Dr. Myung-Hwan Kim of Asan Medical Center. Dr. Kim is a world-renowned gastroenterologist with subspecialty in pancreatic and biliary disease. Pancreatic cancer is known to have high mortality rate, as we have witnessed one of the most influential icons, Steve Jobs, struggled even with access to the best medical care. Any medical progress in the pancreatic cancer research is commendable due to the level of difficulty in treating the disease. In this respect, Dr. Kim’s practice and pancreatic cancer research in this field are important contributions and achieved high honor in receiving the prestigious Dr. Wunsch Medical Award. As a clinician, educator and researcher, Dr.Kim is a true mentor for those who want to pursue in the medical field.
In the special report, we featured recent New York Health Forum where experts gathered to discuss about the development of Korean skincare industry. As featured previously in the last edition, skin health is very important across all ages and genders, and therefore, there has been a greater focus on the research and science involved in the skincare and cosmetic industry. With the growing trend in avoiding harmful chemicals and using natural ingredients, both the US and South Korea should actively develop regulations and technologies to improve overall skin health.
The modern world is moving at a faster pace than ever before. However, there is still a struggle in moving forward with medical cooperation with North Korea due to the political unrest that scaled back the humanitarian and educational medical efforts. Due to these political sanctions, North Korea’s medical needs are still unmet, but as physicians who honor the Hippocratic Oath and like the Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Organization, we must tend to patients’ needs. Hopefully with the political turnaround of North Korea, there would be an opportunity for medical improvements and increased humanitarian efforts in the near future. I hope that 2018 may become the pivotal year in the Korean peninsula.
David Y. Ko, MD
Publisher
President of WKMO
Loma Linda University
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Over the last decade in the healthcare industry, there has been a growing importance for clinicians to lead their practice with greater sense of accountability. Clinicians should be attentive to patient care visibility in order to make appropriate decisions when facing complex situations. In this edition of our cover story, we interviewed a well-known clinical physician, Dr. Myung-Hwan Kim, who believes that the best clinical treatments develop from both patients’ and clinicians’ efforts in raising the bar of the healthcare landscape.
“There are doctors who may advise that medical adverse events or errors occur in every 10,000 patients with approximately 0.01% possibility. Despite the approximated statistics, from a patient’s perspective, the possibility of the event happening is 100%.” The quote from Dr. Kim emphasizes the responsibility that clinicians must have every day when seeing patients. Dr. Kim is a distinguished clinical physician in pancreatology and gastroenterology who always practices patient care with precision and meticulousness with accountability at heart. He is a true pursuer of perfecting clinical performance and puts his best efforts in treating every patient.
Dr. Myung-Hwan Kim is newly elected as the president of the Asian-Oceanic Pancreatic Association, a leading international organization of clinicians who focus their study on various medical and surgical areas of pancreatology. He is also the director of Center for Pancreatobiliary Diseases at Asan Medical Center, the largest medical institute in South Korea. Dr. Kim has a background in both clinical medicine and therapeutic research and has actively participated in numerous academic researches and clinical developments. Dr. Myung-Hwan Kim is undoubtedly one of the most highly respected physicians and a strong expert in gastroenterology in the global community. I met Dr. Kim for the first time several years ago and I was impressed the most by his humility, thoughtfulness and depth in vision of patient care and quality of life. I hope our readers find great delight and enlightenment in reading his story and his philosophy in life.
For the special report, we summarized the 8th New York Health Forum (NYHF) which was held at the Yale Club of New York on December 6th, 2017. Focused on the theme of “Powerful Transformers of the Beauty Industry,” the forum created a platform to stimulate a conversation among multiple top consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, government officials as well as digital influencers to network and share recent trends and dynamics of the beauty industry.
In addition to these two major articles, we have a rich selection of articles and reports which will bring excitement to our readers.
Hope you enjoy reading this edition. Thank you.
DoHyun Cho, PhD
Editor in Chief
President & CEO of W Medical Strategy Group
Chairman of New York Health Forum
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