Medical Practices and Attitudes of Dual-Licensed Medical Doctors in Korea

Abstract

Unique dual medical system in Korea has resulted in the emergence of dual-licensed medical doctors (DLMDs) who have both traditional Korean medicine (KM) and Western medicine (WM) licenses. There have been few studies on DLMDs in spite of their growing number and importance within the medical system. We surveyed the current status and attitudes of DLMD to assess their role in integrative medicine. Questionnaires were administered to the members of the association of DLMD. Data from 103 DLMD were collected and statistically analyzed. 41.4% of DLMD were copracticing both WM and KM at a single clinic, preferring the WM approach for physical examinations, laboratory tests, and education for patients—and the KM approach for treatment and prescription. Musculoskeletal, gastroenterologic, and allergic diseases were considered to be effectively treated with co-practice. DLMD highly agreed on the efficiency of copractice for disease control and patients' satisfaction. On the other hand, they regarded the lack of health insurance coverage for copractice and increased medical expenditure as major problems in providing co-practice. To expand the role of DLMD as mediators of integration in primary health care, the effectiveness of their co-practice should be evaluated and a corresponding health insurance reimbursement system should be established.

Perspectives on Medical Services Integration among Conventional Western, Traditional Korean, and Dual-Licensed Medical Doctors in Korea

“…We carefully reviewed previous studies [ 9 , 10 , 20 ] focusing on the attitude of medical doctors toward CAM, CP, and license unitarization for selecting questionnaire items. CP, license unitarization, and copractice were found to be the options for the integration between two medical paradigms in Korea.…”

“…The survey questionnaires consist of three sections, 16 items. The first section has questions on the sociodemographic characteristics [ 9 , 21 ] such as gender, age, acquisition of clinical specialist, and practice setting. The second section has 7 items on the options for integration of medical services.…”

“…There have been ongoing discussions on some options for dissolving conflicts and integration of two medical services including the cooperative practice (CP) between WM and KM, which is the medical practice that WM and KM doctors participate in together based on mutual respect and shared medical procedure, the license unitarization which is defined in our study as assimilation of WM and KM as a single unified education and license system [ 8 ], and copractice by DL doctors who have the right to practice the KM clinical procedures like acupuncture and herbal medicines alongside WM instruments on specific patients [ 9 ]. However, none of these options reached the consensus [ 7 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Experiences with, perceptions of and attitudes towards traditional Korean medicine (TKM) in patients with chronic fatigue: a qualitative, one-on-one, in-depth interview study

“…Two independent educational and practice systems exist based on exclusive license classifications in Korea. 19 Owing to this clinical situation, patients with chronic fatigue seem to visit TKM clinics not as a counterplan to conventional medicine but as the optimal choice among the possible treatments. From this study, we also found that the patient's belief was strong enough to endure the long-term and sometimes painful interventions such as burning injuries during TKM.…”

Healthcare utilisation and costs for temporomandibular disorders: a descriptive, cross-sectional study

“…17 South Korea also has a unique healthcare system where Korean traditional medicine and Western medicine (including dental medicine) exist on equal terms with exclusive practice boundaries. 18 Moreover, South Korea does not exploit the family physician system, which means that the patients are free to select their primary care centres among a multitude of clinics and hospitals.…”