• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.57-74
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• 1990

As the whole world took on the tendency to be highly industrialized, it became necessary for each field of occupation to require professional man power. Especially, since the World War n, the participation of woman power in economic activities has been continually increasing. In our country also, because of the rapid economic growth, change in the way of thinking of women as well as their participation in economic activities are increasing. Thus, woman power is being utilized in various occupational fields from simple physical labor to those that require high-professional skill. Also, continued economic development policies, by setting the establishment of welfare society as the ideology to be fulfilled, brought expansion of medical facilities in the field of public health and increase in man power in that field. As for the nursing specialists, more than 6000 have been being produced per year and as of the end of 1988, the total number of nursing specialists, reached 123, 115. Therefore, this study is done to recognize the professional knowledge and ability of nursing specialists, who take up $40\%$ of the total public-health related man power in our country, through evaluating their working environment and their disposition of character. This study, which was done from September 18th to September 30th 1989, took on the method of using formed questionnaires that had been amended and supplemented during two preparatory investigations, 322 of such questionnaires were used as an analytical material. In the formation of questionnaires, 12 questions were related to the working environment, and 26 in fortotal were related to the disposition of character, 5 for wise-disposition, 11 for activedisposition and 10 for open-disposition. The measuring method, which used 5-point-standard, allowed 5 points for affirmative recognition of the working environment, also 5 points for showing wise, active and open disposition of character and only point in opposite cases. Collected materials were analyzed, through an electronic calculation, into the average value, the standard deflection percentage, pearson corelative number and stepwise multiple regression. Summarizing the results from this study is as follows: 1. It was shown that the nursing specialists with the average of 3.07 have affirmative recognition of their working environment. The questions which drew most affirmative reaction were those concerning finance-management system such as hand, the questions that received negative reaction were those concerning communication method with the average of 2.49. Such reaction seems to have resulted from the cramming regulation by the superior authorities. Concerning the recognition of working environment in relation to employment conditions, more affirmative recognition is shown with the average of 3.14. at hospitals where injection job is not performed. The nursing specialists working at regular hospitals show more affirmative recognition than those at general hospitals, the averages being respectiely 3.16 and 3.03. 2. As for the disposition of character of the nursing specialists, active-disposition was highest with the average of 3.38, next was wise-disposition with 3.20 and the lowest was open-diposition with 2.98. Variable-wise disposition of character shows that wise-disposition and academic background are beneficially correlated by 0.12. Ative-disposition and open-disposition show correlation to the office term by respectively 0.16 and 0.21. In other words. better academic background leads to higher wise-disposition and more - experience results in higher active and open disposition. Also, the class that performs the injection job, in relation to the working environment, might cause change in the self-conceit that identify those in that class with the nurses; however, as far as professional judgment and action, in dealing with nursing job, being wise, active and open is concerned, not much effect is made. 3. The relation between the recognition of the working environment and the disposition of character is that more afirmative recognition- a nursing specialist has about her working environment, the higher the active-disposition becomes by 0.13. The degrees of the relation between recongnition of environment and wise and open dispositions show respectively 0.06 and -0.06 and -0.06. That is to say that when having more affirmative recognition of the working environment, a nursing specialist shows wise but closed disposition of character. This, howerver, didn't mean much statistically. When observing the results mentioned above, it is conspicuous that the nursing specialists, working as substitutes for the nurse at medical institutions of various sizes, get the feeling of being somewhat equal to the nurses and to some extent, fulfill their desire to accomplish their ego; however, as far as professional ability expansion if concerned. they lack wise and open dispositions. Therefore, considiering upon the results of this study, in medical institutions where the work of nursing specialists is regaded equal to that of the nurses, as a medical member who deals with human lives, it is desirable to make the nursing specialists work under the supervision of the nurses and to offer them continuous education to strengthen and improve their natural dispositions.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2003

Industrialization has brought great changes in human life. Human sleep patterns have also been much influenced by industrialization and the invention of electricity and the light bulb. Insufficient sleep is a common problem with considerable health, social, and economical impacts on modern society. In this review, we will outline the present state of insufficient sleep in our society, especially catastrophic accidents related with chronic sleep insufficiency. We will discuss the effect of sleep deprivation on human performance by reviewing the literature. We will also emphasize the role of sleep specialists in this issue and highlight the areas in which the principles of sleep medicine can constructively improve public policy and public health.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.44-65
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• 2023

Purposes: As super-aging population and low fertility rates are threatening the sustainability of the National Health Insurance funds, enhancing the efficiency of hospital management is paramount. In the past, studies analyzing the efficiencies of hospitals primarily made inter-hospital comparisons, but it is important to assess hospitals' internal efficiency and develop improvement measures in order to attain practical improvements in hospital efficiencies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the efficiencies of specialists by medical specialty in a hospital in order to provide foundational data for efficient hospital management. Methodology/Approach: We used the activity-based costing (ABC) data and hospital statistical data from one tertiary hospital in Seoul to analyze the efficiency of specialists by medical specialty. Efficiency was analyzed and compared among specialists using the data envelopment analysis developed by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes (DEA-CCR) model and the slacks-based measure (SBM) models. The input variables were labor cost, material cost, and operational expenses, and the output variables were the number of outpatients, number of inpatients, outpatient revenue, and inpatient revenue. Findings: First, there was a marked deviation in efficiency across specialists. Second, there was a marked deviation in efficiency across medical specialties. Third, there was little difference in efficiency according to the specialist's sex, age, and job position. Fourth, the SBM model produced more conservative results and better explained efficiency parameters than the CCR model. Practical Implications: The efficiency of a specialist was more influenced by their medical specialty than their personal characteristics, namely sex, age, and job position. Therefore, Further research is needed to analyze the efficiencies of each subspecialty and identify factors that contribute to the variations in efficiencies across medical specialties, such as clinical practices and fee structures.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.370-375
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• 2023

The responsibility to ensure the health rights of detainees, particularly their medical rights, fundamentally lies with the state in all nations. However, in the correctional facilities of the Republic of Korea, these rights are currently not adequately safeguarded. Numerous detainees express dissatisfaction with the medical services provided and show a preference for voluntary external treatment. However, barriers such as prolonged application processes for external treatment and the requirement for detainees to cover their medical expenses present significant challenges. Therefore, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has advocated for an increased medical budget in correctional facilities and a bolstered professional medical workforce to improve the medical care of detainees. Recommendations for improvements include: (1) establishing dedicated correctional hospitals for detainees, (2) setting up specialized correctional wards, (3) collaborating with military hospitals, (4) launching mobile medical buses for diverse specialties, (5) enhancing collaboration with public and private medical institutions, (6) increasing compensation for partnering external medical institutions, (7) improving the working conditions of medical officers, (8) safeguarding the defense rights of medical staff, (9) improving the working conditions of public health doctors from the Ministry of Justice in correctional facilities, and (10) pre-assigning public health specialists and military doctors to correctional facilities. By implementing these measures, it is anticipated that the quality of medical services in the Republic of Korea's correctional facilities will improve, reducing the demand for external treatments among detainees and ensuring their health and medical rights are realistically upheld.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 2014

Medical education departments or offices are established in response to public expectations relating to health care, societal trends towards increased accountability, educational developments, increased interest in what to teach and how to educate doctors. However, heavy workloads and mixed feelings towards medical education departments or offices by the other members of a medical school can threaten job satisfaction and increase burnout. The authors investigated the prevalence of burnout among medical education specialists and related issues. Individual in-depth interviews with four medical education specialists were conducted to develop a questionnaire. After content analysis of the interview, the authors generated a survey form with 28 items including 6 categories: motivation to choose medical education as a career, job satisfaction, intention to leave their current position in medical education, the frequency and causes of burnout, and demographics. In September 2013, an email survey was administered to 43 faculty including non-tenure staff who were working in the department/office of medical education in 41 medical colleges in Korea. Of 43 medical education specialists, 25 (60%) returned surveys. Forty three-point-three percent of them felt encouraged when their endeavors generated a visible educational improvement in the medical school. A majority (87%) reported feeling burned out. Fifty percent of them experienced the feeling once or twice a year. The extent of burnout tended to be greater in women, those in their forties, those with non-medical doctor degrees, and in non-tenured staff. To reduce and prevent burnout among medical education specialists, the participants suggested that leadership of medical schools and a systematic approach to medical education should be established. A majority of the medical education specialists reported experiencing burnout, although they were satisfied with their jobs. To reduce their burnout and allow them to focus on their own work in medical education, the following factors are needed: perceptual changes of other members of the college about medical education; more systematic institutional strategies; networking among medical education specialists; and personal efforts for professional development.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8209-8213
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• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer is a common, preventable and manageable disease in women worldwide. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the cost of follow-up for suspicious precancerous cervical lesions within a screening program using Pap smear or HPV DNA test through the decision tree. Materials and Methods: Patient follow-up processes were determined using standard guidelines and consultation with specialists to design a decision tree model. Costs of treatment in both public and private sectors were identified according to the national tariffs in 2010 and determined based on decision tree and provided services (visits to specialists, colposcopy, and conization) with two modalities: Pap smear and HPV DNA test. The number of patients and the mean cost of treatment in each sector were calculated. The prevalence of lesions and HPV were obtained from literature to estimate the cost of treatment for each woman in the population. Results: Follow-up costs were determined using seven processes for Pap smear and 11 processes for HPV DNA test. The total cost of using Pap smear and HPV DNA process for each woman in the population was 36.1$ and 174$ respectively. Conclusions: The follow-up process for patients with suspicious cervical lesions needs to be included in the existing screening program. HPV DNA test is currently more expensive than Pap smear, it is suggested that we manage precancerous cervical lesions with this latter test.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.181-191
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate demonstration health promotion programs offered by 18 health centers in a structural aspect of the health centers. Methods: The Evaluation Committee was organized with professors from collaboration universities and researchers of this study. Using structure evaluation frame. reports from 18 health centers were reviewed by the committee. Evaluation categories included organizational change, manpower construction, budget, and manpower training and education. Results: Only 5 health centers out of 18 have independent health promotion department. Nurses played a major role for health promotion programs. Other health personnel participated in the health promotion programs included dental hygienists, nutritionists, and exercise specialists. Related to program budgets. local government support rates were varied by the region. Various kind of manpower training was offered to health personnel for the health promotion programs including smoking control. exercise, alcohol, nutrition, and so forth. Conclusion: The study results indicated that establishment of independent health promotion department, maintenance of same manpower construction, provision of diversity manpower training were the factors that foster effective health promotion programs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.29 no.1 s.52
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• pp.133-143
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• 1996

This study was conducted to assess the referral patterns to specialist from general practitioners in health center and perceived needs of referred patients for specialist care in health center. The study subjects were 249 patients who visited to health centers and were referred to other medical facilities. The data were obtained from questionnaire survey which was conducted in Kyongju-City Health Center, Seongju-Gun Health Center and Koryong-Gun Health Center in Kyongsangbuk-Do, from June 10 to October 17, 1995. The total referral rate was 2.7%. The proportion of patients who wished to be referred to medical specialists was 85.9%, and the proportion of patients referred by general practitioners in health centers was 14.1%. Among the patients who wished to be referred to medical specialists, 45.9% visited directly to health centers, 34.6% visited health centers via local clinics and 19.5% visited health centers to get referral permission only. The reasons for getting referral permission in health centers were easy geographical accessibility(34.6%), easy to get referral permission in health centers(27.1%), and very difficult to get referral permission in local clinics(16.4%). Among the diseases of referred patients, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue were most prevalent on a whole, but diseases of nervous system and sensory organs were comparatively high among the patients who wished to be referred to medical specialists and infectious and parasitic diseases were comparatively high among the patients referred by general practitioners in health centers. The most favorable medical facility was general hospital including university hospital in both groups of patients who wished to be referred to medical specialist and the patient referred by general practitioners in health centers. Regarding the needs for specialist care in health center, 75.2% of patients who wished to be referred to medical specialists and 74.3% of patients referred by general practitioners in health center wanted the specialist care. The most frequently requested specialty is internal medicine(47.1%), and then orthopedics and general surgery. Based on above results, this study revealed that the majority of patients referred from health center wished to be referred to medical specialists at their own will, so, referral system at health center level should be changed. And if specialist care in health center be provided, the medical care by internist could be provided first, and then that of orthopedics and general surgery could be provided. These kinds of medical cares could be covered by local clinicians as a part-time job on a voluntary basis.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.115-125
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• 2015

This study was to identify major risk factors associated with secondary traumatic stress in a sample of 654 public social welfare specialists. Findings indicated that 69.0% of the subjects experienced secondary traumatic stress, and 36.9% of them were in a high-risk group. Multiple regression analysis showed that the risk of the secondary traumatic stress was associated with gender, work hours, physical violence and threats from clients, coping strategies, and vocational self-efficacy. Based on these results, several interventions for preventing the incidence of secondary traumatic stress among public social welfare specialists are suggested as the follows: construction of secure job environment, development of educational programs for improving vocational self-efficacy and coping skills, and implementation of mental health screening system on a regular basis to prevent the outbreak of mental disease among the workers.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.214-218
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• 2008

Bioterrorism events have worldwide impacts, not only in terms of security and public health policy, but also in other related sectors. Many countries, including Korea, have set up new administrative and operational structures and adapted their preparedness and response plans in order to deal with new kinds of threats. Korea has dual surveillance systems for the early detection of bioterrorism. The first is syndromic surveillance that typically monitors non-specific clinical information that may indicate possible bioterrorism-associated diseases before specific diagnoses are made. The other is infectious disease specialist network that diagnoses and responds to specific illnesses caused by intentional release of biologic agents. Infectious disease physicians, clinical microbiologists, and infection control professionals play critical and complementary roles in these networks. Infectious disease specialists should develop practical and realistic response plans for their institutions in partnership with local and state health departments, in preparation for a real or suspected bioterrorism attack.