보건복지부 영문홈페이지

2022 Opening Ceremony of Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program, Center of Healthcare Workforce Training for Developing Countries

개도국 보건의료 인재 양성의 산실, 이종욱 펠로우쉽 2022년 입교식

 

PRESS RELEASE

AUG 17, 2022

 

- 1,147 trainees from 30 nations have completed the Program from 2007 to 2021, now playing critical roles in healthcare in their home countries -

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea (MOHW) and Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, KOFIH (headed by Chang-yup Kim, President), held 2022 Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program Opening Ceremony & Orientation on Aug. 17th (Wed) at 10 AM, at Grand Ballroom Raon, Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun Hotel.

 

The Ceremony was attended by Yoon Chansik, MOHW Director-General for International Cooperation;, Chang-yup Kim, President of KOFIH, Myung Joon Kwon Mirae Campus Vice President of Yonsei University, along with the 126 trainees from 10 nations, with some attending in person and the others virtually.

 

Launched in 2007 to honor the spirit of the Late Dr LEE Jong-wook, who served as the 6th Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and became the first Korean to head an international organization, Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program is a training program designed to invite global healthcare workforce from partner countries to build their competence.

 

For this year’s Program, 126 trainees in total from 10 nations* will join and go through one of the six courses by area (clinical, health policy, medical engineering, healthcare workforce education, the highest level, and infectious disease response) or the degree courses (nursing, basic medicine, teacher training, health policy, medical engineering, medical education) over the periods of two to 24 months.

 

* Ghana, Laos, Mozambique, Mongolia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Tanzania

 

Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program was launched in 2007 to honor the spirit of the Late Dr LEE Jong-wook, the 6th Director-General of the WHO, who stressed the importance of training workforce in developing countries for sustainable development, and 1,147 trainees from 30 nations in total have completed the Program until 2021.

By country, Laos was the top sender of trainees that has sent 231 trainees, followed by Tanzania (135), Cambodia (87), Ethiopia (83), and Uganda (81), and by continent, Asia was the top sender that has sent 683 trainees (59.5% of the total), followed by Africa (456, 39.8%) and Central America (8 trainees, 1.2%).

 

<Top 10 Sender of Trainees>

 

 

Doctor was the profession that the largest number of trainees have (462, 40.3% of the total), and medical engineers, health policy makers, nurses have showed a lot of interest in the Program.

 

< Classification of Trainees by Profession >

 

 

A lot of trainees who have completed the 15-year-old Program are playing a critical role in the field of healthcare in their home countries, as heads of national hospitals or high-ranking government officials. (Refer to the Attachment)

 

At the Ceremony, Yoon Chansik, MOHW Director-General for International Cooperation, made a welcoming speech, Chang-yup Kim, President of KOFIH gave a lecture on “National Strategy of the Health System Strengthening in the Post-Covid-19 Era”, and Professor Seok-hoon You of Korea University promoted understanding of Korea among the trainees through his “Korean History and Culture Lecture”.

 

The 126 trainees from 10 nations will proceed with the Program at nine institutes* in Korea in accordance with their schedules for the degree courses and six specialized courses under the Program.

 

* 9 Institutes: National Rehabilitation Center, GCLabs, MyongJi Medical Foundation, Seoul National University SNU R&DB Foundation, Graduate School of Public Health Yonsei University (GSPH), Yonsei University Industry Foundation, Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Eulji University Industry-Academic Cooperation Group, Inje University Industry-Academic Cooperation Group.

 

Among the trainees, Theodore Amponsah from Ghana is re-visiting Korea as a recommended trainee for the master’s course under the Program by the Ghanaian health ministry, as he was recognized for his accomplishment of educating medical engineers in Ghana utilizing what he learnt from the three months of training under the Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program in 2018.

 

Oua PHIMMASARN, the Vice Dean of Laos National University College of Medicine, is participating in the Program this year in order to utilize Korea’s quality medical education system at Laos National University Hospital, which is to be built in Laos for the first time backed by the Korean government.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and KOFIH will make various efforts to make Dr LEE Jong-wook Fellowship Program a representative healthcare workforce training program for developing countries that is recognized internationally, going beyond Korea.

 

First, they plan to host regular “Homecoming” events for the trainees that involve follow-up trainings (seminars) or on-site tours, so that the trainees continue to have interest in Korea’s healthcare system even after they complete the Program.

 

Also, they are planning to actively continue the KOFIH Global Alumni, KGA, for the trainees that complete the Program by nation and by continent, to enhance the networks among the trainees; they will positively review the plan on regular meetings between the trainees and Korea’s healthcare professionals (government workers, medical professionals, etc.) as well.

 

* KOFIH Global Alumni, KGA, was organized in 2016 to conduct effective follow-up management for the Program, and currently has 974 members in 12 nations.

 

 

In addition, they will seek ways to secure a separate location dedicated for this Program, in order to further enhance the Program to a global standard, to manage the Program stably, and to support the networks among the trainees.

 

“Investing in healthcare workforce training in developing countries is valuable and it honors the spirit of the late Dr LEE Jong-wook,” said Yoon Chansik, MOHW Director-General for International Cooperation. He added, “I will spare no support for this Program so that the right can be done at the right place the right way”.

 

Dr. Teav Veasna from Cambodia as the representative of the trainees said in the valedictory speech that “it is an honor to take part in this Program that commemorates the late Dr LEE Jong-wook’s sacrifice and dedication in Korea, a country that has become a model nation of addressing Covid-19 pandemic”, and pledged to “commit myself to humanity going by the principle of the late Dr LEE Jong-wook ‘We need to do the right things, in the right place, the right way’”.

 

 

 

 

// For inquiries contact Media Relations, Ministry of Health and Welfare

044-202-2047 or fairytale@korea.kr