Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital

Professor Seok Woo Kim of Spine Center at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital has received the National Order of Vietnam for the first time ever as a foreign doctor during his visit to the annual Orthopedic Symposium in Danang, Vietnam, in October, 2015.

Professor Kim was honored by the Minister of Health and Welfare in Vietnam for his dedication to the development of public healthcare in Vietnam. He has been inviting Vietnamese doctors to Hallym University Medical Center to provide medical training for more than 10 years. He also gave lectures and performed live surgeries in Vietnam to help improve the quality of public healthcare for many years.

In 2011, Dr. Kim was awarded Minister’s prize from Korean government in the recognition of his contribution to the development of public healthcare in the under-privileged countries by actively supporting projects of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). Through the prize from Vietnam, he became a doctor who was honored by Ministers of Health and Welfare from two different countries.

By Ji Hee Hwang, Int’l Cooperation Team, HUMC (jihee@hallym.or.kr)