Education of Korean Medicine

Modern education in Korean Medicine has been developing since the six-year system was introduced in 1965. Eleven colleges of Korean Medicine and one school of Korean Medicine now exist. Each Korean Medicine college comprises two years of pre-medicine and four years of medicine. The Korean Medicine school provides a four-year coures for students with education higher than or equal to a bachelor’ degree. Tne annual number of students enrolling in the eleven Korean Medicine colleges and the one Korean Medicine school is 750. The Korean Medicine colleges and school are as popular as medical and dental schools in Korea, with less than the top 1% of students applying to them.

A curriculum of Korean Medicine colleges is provided below. In the two years of pre-medicine, courses in liberal arts, an introduction to Korean Medicine. Medical Chinese, and Basic Western Medicine are provided. In the four years after pre-medicine, basic and clinical courses are taken, with clinical training pursued afterwards. 

 

Curriculum for Korean Medicine

		Pre-medicine	Medicine(Requisites)
Required subjects	Basic subjects	Medical Classics, Introduction to Korean medicine, Medical English, Medical Chinese, Medical history. Physiology and lab, Medical Qigong, Herbology, Biochemistry and lab(WM), Embryology(WM)	Pathology and lab, Herbology and lab, medical classics, Shanghanlun, Famous theories in Korean medicine, Studies on warm diseases, Meridianology and lab, Preventive medicine and lab, Prescriptionology and lab, Medical ethics, Public health regulations. Anatomy and lab(WM), Physiology(WM), Pathology(WM), Histology(WM), Pharmacology and lab, Preventive medicine(WM), Microbiology and lab(WM)
	Clinical subjects		Sasang constitutional medicine, Internal medicine, Acupuncture and moxibustion, Diagnostics, Gynecology, Dermatology and surgery. Ophthalmology and Otorhinolatyngology, Neuropsychiatry, Pediatrics, Rehabilitation medicine, Manipulation, Diagnostics(WM), Radiology(WM), Laboratory medicine(WM), Emergency medicine(WM), Forensic science(WM)
Electives		Classics reading, Psychology, Medical management, Medical informatics, Writing, English conversation, Chinese conversation, Molecular biology, Eastern Philosophy, Philosophy of science, Medical statistics (electives run differently according to school policy)	Clinical psychology, Alternative medicine, Integrative medicine, Clinical dietetics, Special lectures

To improve the quality of education, an accreditation system has been applied to the Korean Medicine educational institutions. Led by the Institute of Korean Medicine Education Evaluation(IKMEE), regular evaluation and accreditation of educational facilities, infrastructure, educational content, faculty, and student welfare are performed. When an evaluation identifies insufficiencies in the education provided, the institution may be hanned from enrolling new students.

In 2000, Herbal pharmacists began receiving licenses specifically for herbal medicines. Three colleges with four-year courses for herbal pharmacists now exist. The number of students enrolled each year is 120. The educational course requires 160 credits, and the table below lists the major subjects covered.

Curriculum for department of herbal pharmacy

Requisite Courses

Major Electives

Medicinal botany, Introduction to herbal medicine, Classics of herbal medicine, Herbology and lab, Pharmaceutical organic chemistry, Physiology and lab, Pathology, Pharmaceutical analysis, Pharmaceutical biochemistry and lab, Pharmacognosy, Physiology(WM), Natural product chemistry and lab, Microbiology, Pharmacopoeia, Herbal processing and lab, Prescriptionology and lab, Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics and lab, Herbal pharmacology and lab, Clinical herbology, Pharmacy regulations, Pharmaceutical distribution and storage, Identification of herbal medicine and lab, Preventive Pharmacy and public health

General Chemistry, Medical terminology, Bioscience, Korean Medicine terminology, Natural products, Anatomy, Physical pharmacy, Bioinorganic chemistry, Pharmaceutical statistics, Introduction of Meridianology, Instrumental analysis, Pharmaceutical organic chemistry. Pharmaceutical biochemistry, Advanced instrumental analysis, Shanghanlun, Herbal medicine, Medical microbiology, Industrial property rights, bioinformatics, Immunology, Public health, Pharmacotherapy, Sasang pharmacology, Health functional foods, Clinical herbal medicine, Herbal pharmacy management, Quality control

Korea has a unique specialist system for Korean Medicine doctors. This system was first introduced in 2000 to provide better medical services and to develop each clinical department. Eight department exist in which graduates of Korean Medicine colleges and school can train to receive specialized board certification: Korean internal medicine; Korean Medicine gynecology; Korean Medicine pediatrics; Korean Medicine neuropsychiatry; acupuncture and moxibustion; Korean ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and dermatology; Korean Medicine rehabilitation medicine; and Sasang constitutional medicine. A Korean Medicine doctor has to complete one year of internship and three years of residency after earning a license to qualify. After the four-year course, a qualification examination must be passed to be approved by the specialization board. 

The certificate of specialization of Korean Medicine is awarded by the Minister of Health and Welfare. As of 2014, 37 Korean Medicine hospital were eligible to train Korean Medicine doctors for specialization, and there were 2,472 specialized doctors, approximately 11.2% of registered licensed Korean Medicine doctors.

As described thus far, Korean Medicine education fosters qualified Korean Medicine human resources with a curriculum system equivalent to that of Western medical schools, a unique specialization system for Korean Medicine doctors, an educational evaluation system, and a license awarded by the Minister of Health and Welfare. The annual OECD Health Data treat Korean Medicine doctors as physicians.