Surgeon Kim Young-woong treats trauma patients in South Sudan and Korea

On the 19th, Dr. Kim Young-woong, a thoracic trauma surgeon at the National Medical Center's Seoul Trauma Center, meets with ChosunBiz and states, “Right now, the place I should be is here at the trauma center, but someday, if the Seoul Trauma Center grows larger and stabilizes with more thoracic trauma specialists, I want to return to work in conflict zones.” (Courtesy of ChosunBiz)

A scene of civil war where there is no distinction between the front and the rear. Patients, regardless of age, suffering from gunshot wounds or burns flock together. The situation is chaotic, with patients who must have limbs amputated due to lack of timely treatment mixed with pregnant women who require immediate cesarean sections. This is not a scene from the Netflix drama "The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call," but reality.

Dr. Kim Young-woong, a 41-year-old thoracic surgeon and a specialist in thoracic trauma at the National Medical Center Seoul Trauma Center, is referred to as the real-life version of Baek Kang-hyuk, the protagonist from the drama. In October 2021, he was dispatched to South Sudan as a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) activist, treating and operating on all patients for three months, covering thoracic surgery, obstetrics, orthopedics, and pediatric surgery.

The situation was worse than in the drama. The place where Dr. Kim was dispatched was Agok, a village located at the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has faced years of civil war due to religious and ethnic conflicts, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis. The only facility that could be called a hospital is the one built by Médecins Sans Frontières in Agok.

On the 19th, Dr. Kim, whom I met at the Seoul Trauma Center in Jung-gu, said, "As border disputes and inter-tribal civil wars continue, armed robbers are also common. Children often suffer gunshot wounds while trying to protect prized cattle." Gunshot patients require restoration surgery after bullet removal, but due to a lack of medical resources, there were cases where body parts had to be amputated.

Dr. Kim was the only surgeon dispatched to Agok, South Sudan. When combining inpatients who need continuous monitoring, new patients, and those needing emergency surgery, he was seeing over 100 patients alone each day. There were many nights where he stayed awake. In light of this situation, Médecins Sans Frontières has limited the deployment period for medical staff, particularly in surgical disciplines, to approximately three months.

A young girl patient visiting the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Agok area of South Sudan with activist Dr. Kim Young-woong (thoracic trauma surgeon at the National Medical Center's Seoul Trauma Center). /Courtesy of Doctors Without Borders

In other places, wounds that are easy to treat often lead to serious conditions and can be fatal in that region due to the scarcity of nearby hospitals. Dr. Kim noted, "When patients come to the hospital late and it's already too late to do anything due to severe necrosis, we have no choice but to amputate." He expressed feelings of anger and helplessness at those times but pushed on, thinking that without him, there would be no one else to help.

While attending Ulsan University College of Medicine, Dr. Kim decided on his career path after randomly reading a book related to Médecins Sans Frontières. Médecins Sans Frontières, established in 1971, is a humanitarian medical organization that provides medical assistance in over 70 countries and 500 locations affected by armed conflict, natural disasters, and more, with more than 47,000 relief workers.

To work with Médecins Sans Frontières, he chose surgery. He trained for nearly 10 years, including as a thoracic surgery fellow after graduating from medical school, and further specialized for two years to become a trauma specialist to provide more practical help in conflict and disaster zones. Immediately after graduating from medical school, he was selected as the dedicated medical staff for the winter research team at the King Sejong Station in Antarctica, accumulating over 400 days of experience in polar medicine.

After completing his fellowship in 2019, Dr. Kim transferred to the trauma center at Pusan National University, where Professor Cho Hyun-min, a first-generation thoracic trauma expert, is currently working. After becoming a trauma specialist and returning from South Sudan, he joined the newly opened National Medical Center Seoul Trauma Center in May 2023.

However, Dr. Kim's activities are not limited to Seoul. The National Medical Center Trauma Center collaborates with the Overseas Emergency Relief Team (KDRT). Since last year, it has also been providing training for medical personnel dispatched to disaster and conflict areas. Dr. Kim was dispatched to the site of the Canadian wildfires for a month last year as part of KDRT, treating Korean firefighters. He also conducts telemedicine consultations every month with domestic personnel in Antarctica.

Medical staff at the National Medical Center's Trauma Center are performing surgery on critically injured patients that were transported. /Courtesy of National Medical Center YouTube capture

In fact, Dr. Kim had planned to continue Médecins Sans Frontières' overseas medical activities even while at the Seoul Trauma Center, but he temporarily halted those plans due to unexpected realities last year and decided to focus solely on domestic treatment. Due to staffing reductions influenced by conflicts in medical policy, particularly doctors specialized in thoracic trauma have become scarce. Until last year, Dr. Kim was the only thoracic trauma specialist at this Seoul Trauma Center. The situation in Korea has become no different from that of conflict regions.

The Seoul Trauma Center has the shortest experience among the 17 regional trauma centers nationwide since it opened last year, trailing only the Gyeongnam Regional Trauma Center. Currently, a total of 10 specialists, including 6 surgeons, 2 thoracic surgeons, 1 orthopedic surgeon, and 1 neurosurgeon, along with dozens of medical staff such as trauma surgery supporting nurses, are protecting the city of Seoul, which has a population of 10 million.

Dr. Kim stated, "The newly established Seoul Trauma Center, which has been operating for two years, is currently experiencing the challenges that other trauma centers faced a decade ago. The situation is indeed tough right now, but I hope to survive well and be recognized as a proficient trauma center five years from now." Fortunately, the addition of another thoracic trauma specialist this year has improved the working conditions compared to before, and a specialist in anesthesiology focused on trauma is expected to join next month.

Dr. Kim is currently at the trauma center but has not forgotten the dire medical conditions in South Sudan and the work of Médecins Sans Frontières. He expressed, "Although I need to be at the trauma center for now, if this center grows larger and there are more thoracic trauma specialists, I would like to return to conflict regions to continue my work."

This article has been translated by OpenAI. View Original Article(Korean)

Source: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-science/2025/03/24/QVBJDOIL4BEPJGVOX3LV6QJG3U/