All “Seven Doctors” Identified in Photograph of the First Graduates of Severance Hospital Medical College Diploma Donated by Descendant of Dr. Kim Hee-Young A diploma awarded 100 years ago has returned to Yonsei. The diploma of Dr. Kim Hee-Young, Korea’s first licensed doctor and member of the first graduating class of the Yonsei School of Medicine, was donated on June 3 by his descendants, Ms. Jang Ae-Ja and Mr. Kim Yong-Jae. Diploma of Korea’s First Licensed Doctor and Yonsei School of Medicine Graduate Donated University President Kim Han-Joong expressed his gratitude to Ms. Jang and Mr. Kim for donating a precious family treasure: “I am very happy that a diploma which was awarded exactly one hundred years ago this day to the first graduating student of our university is returned to Yonsei.” Ms. Jang and Mr. Kim had kept the historic diploma a family secret, honoring the words of the late Mr. Kim Wan-Cheol, grandson to Dr. Kim, husband to Ms. Jang, and father to Mr. Kim. However, Mr. Song Deok-Geun, another grandson of Dr. Kim’s, visited Severance Hospital and happened to see the exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first licensed doctors, and recognized a document similar to his grandfathers’s. Mr. Song contacted the Medical Center, and the director of the Medical Museum contacted Dr. Kim’s descendants and implored them to donate the document for Yonsei and Yonsei’s students. Diploma from Severance Hospital Medical College Dr. Kim’s diploma is inscribed in both Korean and English, and the granting institution is noted as the Severance Hospital Medical College. The seven members of the first graduating class of the School of Medicine were later dubbed the “Seven Doctors”. Diploma of Korea’s First Licensed Doctor, Valuable Record of the History of Korean Medicine Director Park Hyung-Woo of the Medical Museum considers the diploma a significant record of the history of Korean medicine. Additionally, the diploma has made it possible to identify Dr. Kim as one of the “Seven Doctors”, leading to the identification of the two formerly unidentified faces in the photograph of the seven members of the first graduating class. Also meaningful are the pear blossom and Taeguk marks on the diploma, which signify loyalty to and affection for the nation, which was under facing imminent threat from the Japanese at the time. These insignias support the fact that the Severance Hospital Medical College was one of the few educational institutions of the time that were genuinely nationalist in its orientation, whose graduates later participated in the independence movement. Dr. Kim Hee-Young, Korea’s first licensed doctor and one of the first students to graduate from Yonsei, was born in 1879 and graduated from Baejae Hakdang and the Severance Hospital Medical College. After graduation, Dr. Kim worked as a doctor, becoming the director of two hospitals and caring for Korean miners, as well as Americans. Dr. Kim was admitted to Severance Hospital with tuberculosis and passed away on November 8, 1920, at the age of 41. The donation of Dr. Kim’s diploma was reported in a major article by the Chosunilbo on June 7, and led to the donation of another diploma and graduation photograph by Ms. Gwak Yeon-Chan, the daughter of Dr. Gwak Byeong-Gyoo, third graduating class of the School of Medicine. The “Seven Doctors” Identified Only five of the “Seven Doctors” in the graduation photograph of the first graduates of the Severance Hospital Medical College had been identified until Dr. Kim’s diploma shed new light on the identity of the formerly unidentified two faces. In addition to the Doctors Kim Pil-Soon, Hong Seok-Hoo, Joo Hyun-Cheuk, Park Seo-Yang, and Hong Jong-Eun, whose names and faces had formerly been identified, Dr. Kim Hee-Young was identified in the photograph by his descendents, leading to the clue of the only unidentified face, who now is certainly Dr. Shin Chang-Hee mentioned in the records. The “foreigner” in the middle of the photograph is Dr. Hurst, who was a professor in the Severance Hospital Medical College. Living in Exile and Working for Fellow Koreans The “Seven Doctors” did not choose to lead comfortable lives as doctors, but remained at the university to train future doctors, as well as translating and writing medical textbooks. Also, during the Japanese occupation, Doctors Kim Pil-Soon, Joo Hyun-Cheuk, Park Seo-Yang, and Shin Chang-Hee chose life in exile in China and treated fellow Korean exiles while supporting the independence movement.