His warm-looking appearance and soft-sounding speech were more than enough to make counterparts comfortable. It further has made patients to believe in him and talk about everything related to their illness. As Korea’s first person to have a doctoral degree in Medical Communication, Lee Hyun Seok (’79, College of Medicine), is a pioneer and has satisfied numerous patients with his medical treatment. The Granite Tower (GT) met this person who first incorporated medical science with communication.

Medical Communication, not a well-known area in Korea, is a very broad field. It involves four parts: doctors and patients, doctors and doctors, doctors and medical-related people such as nurses and physical therapists and health campaigns. Doctor Lee is mostly interested in the communication between doctors and patients. He added, “The main reason why patients are dissatisfied with a doctor’s treatment is not because of the doctor’s misdiagnosis, but the lack of thorough communication with him or her. The quality of Korea’s medical service has reduced because patients cannot fully comprehend what doctors are saying, nor are they granted a fair share of time to tell their stories.

Doctor Lee thought that even though Korea has outstanding medical technology and has good medical services with low costs, the overall social perception of doctors is not that positive. Even more, there is a phenomenon called “doctor shopping” which refers to an act of patients changing hospitals several times because they are not satisfied with doctors’ treatments. Doctor Lee found that the lack of communication was the reason and began to study Medical Communication.

There are various theoretical communication methods and every country has different characteristics. The United States (U.S.) has a quite formal environment of medical treatment, starting with patients and doctors shaking hands and patients introducing themselves. In the case of Korea, it tends to have a more comfortable atmosphere. Doctor Lee emphasized that doctors should put forth effort and courtesy towards patients. In the first medical examination, doctors should listen to patients for at least one minute regardless of what they are saying. This is an implicit sign from the doctors that they are more than welcome to listen to patients’ stories and answer any questions.

Doctor Lee also explained that it is important for patients to trust doctors. In medical terms, such a relationship is called “rapport.” He said, “For patients, having a long medical treatment is not an essential matter. What they really want is thorough answers to questions when they are in a desperate situation. Doctors should answer all the questions that patients have even if it takes longer than the usual ten minutes.” Once credence is built through conversation with doctors, patients will still be satisfied, even when they get a short medical treatment later on because they know that doctors are always ready to listen to them and answer their questions.

▲ Active interaction and communication are important in Medical Communication. Provided by cfile21.uf.tistory.com and Provided by i.huffpost.com

Working for 18 years in his own hospital, whenever an economic recession occurs, Doctor Lee is reminded of a man who came to his hospital 10 years ago. The man was suffering from severe stress during the financial crisis in 1997. He was the owner of an automobile company that produced components for car engines. His company was on the verge of going bankrupt and he even thought of committing suicide to reduce the burden that his family had. However, Doctor Lee calmly listened to all of the patient’s stories and prescribed medicine, earnestly convincing him not to give up even when the worst happens.

Fortunately, the patient came back three weeks later with a bright face, saying somebody decided to take over his company with all the debts that he had. A year later, he came back again and told Doctor Lee that his wife opened a small market and he himself also got a real estate license and was about to open an office. It seems that the first medical examination that Doctor Lee gave was the decisive factor to this happy ending story.

Doctor Lee reminisced and added, “When I first diagnosed him, I realized that he did not have a specific illness, rather he had a variety of symptoms. So I decided to let him talk all about his condition and situation to me. I listened to him carefully and through long conversation I could fully understand his predicament at that time.” What the patient wanted was not a remarkable medical treatment. He wanted somebody to talk to, somebody who could listen to him sincerely and somebody who could understand his situation, and Doctor Lee did so perfectly.

Other than running his own hospital, Doctor Lee is also a chairman of the Korean Academy on Communication in Healthcare. It was established in 2006 and Doctor Lee contributed significantly to the establishment. Its goal is to promote good communication between doctors and patients so that misdiagnosis can be reduced and patients can have appropriate treatments. Thus, it tries to form trust between doctors and patients and consequently diminish negative social stereotypes towards doctors.

Doctor Lee believes that communication is very important in every aspect of society. In particular, communication related with human’s health and life cannot be ignored and should be dealt with sincerity. Currently, however, Medical Communication is a minor field in Korea. So, Doctor Lee wants to increase the awareness of Medical Communication and have it considered a general value in Korea.

For his last remarks, Doctor Lee underlined modesty to Korea University (KU) students. He said, “KU students should know how to lower themselves and be more considerate to people around them. Since KU is among the top three universities in Korea, students should act appropriately to its status.” For College of Medicine students, Doctor Lee stated that no matter how outstanding a doctor is, there is always a possibility of misdiagnosis. Therefore, when students become doctors, they should keep in mind that they have to enhance their abilities persistently and treat patients.

▲ Doctor Lee is explaining Medical Communication and his experience. Photographed by Kim Jung Ik.