Abstract
This article aims to describe the training and medical licensing system (uieop) for becoming a physician officer (uigwan) during Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). In the Goryeo Dynasty, although no license was necessary to provide medical services to the common people, there was a licensing examination to become a physician officer. No other national licensing system for healthcare professionals existed in Korea at that time. The medical licensing examination was administered beginning in 958. Physician officers who passed the medical licensing examination worked in two main healthcare institutions: the Government Hospital (Taeuigam) and Pharmacy for the King (Sangyakguk). The promotion and expansion of medical education differed depending on the historical period. Until the reign of King Munjong (1046-1083), medical education as a path to licensure was encouraged in order to increase the number of physician officers qualifying for licensure by examination; thus, the number of applicants sitting for the examination increased. However, in the late Goryeo Dynasty, after the officer class of the local authorities (hyangri) showed a tendency to monopolize the examination, the Goryeo government limited the examination applications by this group. The medical licensing examination was divided into two parts: medicine and ‘feeling the pulse and acupuncture’ (jugeumeop). The Goryeo Dynasty followed the Chinese Dang Dynasty’s medical system while also taking a strong interest in the Chinese Song Dynasty’s ideas about medicine.
Highlights
This article examines the Korean Goryeo Dynasty’s medical licensing system for becoming a physician officer
It was a system to promote applicants to physician officers, who could work in the palace and the government’s medical institutions
Mentation of the examination to be a physician officer and the establishment of the medical institutions where officers worked; second, developments in the medical licensing examination system until the end of the Goryeo Dynasty and changes in qualification for the applicants; third, medical books of the Goryeo Dynasty and the subjects covered by the medical licensing examination
Summary
This article examines the Korean Goryeo Dynasty’s medical licensing system (uieop) for becoming a physician officer. Page 3 of 5 (page number not for citation purposes) wanted to avoid the monopolization of physician officer positions by this single group of people, the officer class of the local authorities were prevented from even taking the medical licensing examination in 1363. Due to specific government policies of the early Goryeo period, the medical licensing examination system for the physician officer position provided an opportunity for the brightest of the common people and lower officer classes to climb to an officer’s higher ranking, providing some fluidity in the social hierarchy. The aristocracy blocked access to the examination for common people, thereby reducing the pool of candidates and the competition for physician officer positions This led to the eventual decline in medical innovation during the late Goryeo Dynasty. The basic system of medical licensure set the stage for ongoing systemization of the medical profession in future eras
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
