Bibliography
Early life and education
Chang Kee-ryo was born at Yongcheon, Pyonganbukdo on 14 August 1911, the second child of father Chang Woon-seop and mother Choi Yun-kyeong. He left Uiseong primary school in February 1923 and went to Songdo High School at Gaeseong until March 1928. From there, he entered Gyeongseong Medical SchoolGyeongseong (경성, 京城) was the old name of Seoul during the Japanese occupation for the period 1910 - 1945. After the liberation, Gyeongseong Medical School became the College of Medicine, Seoul National University. in 1928 and graduated in 1932. After graduation, he entered Gyeongseong Medical School as an assistant at the surgery department and became a disciple of Professor Paik Inje of the Korean Surgical Society. In 1932, he married Kim Bong-sook, the eldest daughter of Kim Ha-sik, a physician; they had three sons and three daughters. In 1938, he worked as a lecturer in Gyeongseong's entire surgery. In order to keep his promise to God that he would become a doctor who helped the poor who did not receive medical care due to lack of money at the time of the most rigorous and competitive entrance exam of the medical school. In September 1940, he obtained his Ph.D. in Nagoya University in bacteriological studies on appendicitis.Education
When he was seriously contemplating his future career in his youth, his father's business failure made his family finances difficult and he applied to Gyeongseong Medical School because of its government-supported tuition. At this time, he swore to be a doctor for poor patients if it was God's will that he become a doctor. He graduated from the medical school at the top of his class. After graduation, he entered Gyeongseong Medical School as an assistant to study further under Professor Paik Inje, the Korean surgical authority. In 1940, he was awarded a doctoral degree in medicine in relation to the bacteriological study of appendicitis. And he worked as a surgical teacher at the University of Pyongyang and Kim Il Sung University in 1947.Korean War
In December 1950, when U.N. and South Korean troops recaptured Pyongyang, Chang was treating wounded soldiers at a university hospital and field hospital. When the South Korean army withdrew from Pyongyang, he was taking a patient transport ambulance to the South. He found his wife and children in the ranks of the refugees, but he could not stop and ask for a ride for his family because the emergency patients were on board. Only his second son, who came to deliver his luggage, came to South Korea with him. He had regarded it as a lifelong regret. In the following year, wishing to help refugees from the North, Chang set up a tent in Yeongdo-gu, Busan, and established the Clinic of Gospel, which was a precursor to the current Gosin Hospital, to provide free medical treatment for the poor until June 1976.Blue Cross movement and liver research
Hospital costs were too high for the poor in the 1960s without health insurance. He created the Blue Cross Medical Cooperative, modeled after the Northern European Medicare System in 1968, and became the parent of the Korean health care insurance system. At that time, South Korea's first medical insurance union succeeded with one belief that it could not overburden the poor despite the lack of understanding and financial difficulties surrounding it. He was the first in Korea to successfully remove a lump of liver cancer from the liver in 1943 and, in 1959, he succeeded in mass decontamination of liver cancer patients. His work on liver blood vessels and microstructure has helped relieve the pain of many patients with liver diseases and contributed greatly to the development of liver disease and medical talent in Korea's overseas sciences. For his services, he was awarded the Order of National Merit (Dongbaeg medal) in 1976, the Magsaysay Award (community service sector) in 1979, and the humanitarian award for practice in 1995. He has been praised as a saint of Korea for his philanthropy and his services to the poor, in spite of his suffering from diabetes in his old age. His grave is within the Moran park in Maseok, Gyeonggi-do. He was awarded the Order of the National Merit (Mugunghwa medal) in 1996. He was inducted into the Korea Scientists and Engineers Hall of Fame in 2006.Achievements
Research
Chang has dissected a dead body of a patient who has cellulitis andFoundation of the health cooperative
Another major achievements of Chang is the foundation of the Blue Cross Health Cooperative. This act came from his volunteering spirit to poor people. The foundation of the cooperative provided the main basis of medical insurance in South Korea. Chang won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for "his practical, personal Christian charity and in founding the Blue Cross Health Cooperative" in 1979.Awards and recognition
*Achievement award at Health Care Day from the mayor of Busan *Korean Medical Association scholarship award from the president *4th Health day camellia medal from the president *Gold award from Korea Red Cross *"Ramon Magsaysay" social service award *23rd Busan municipal cultural prize *"Proud person of Seoul National University" prize *National medal "mugunghwa medal" from the president *Hall of fame of top scientistsPublications and related books
*Chang, Kee Ryo; Yang, Duck Ho/Park, Yong Hoon. (1963)See also
*References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Kee-Ryo South Korean surgeons 1911 births 1995 deaths Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Recipients of the Dongbaeg Medal Jang clan of Andong 20th-century South Korean physicians 20th-century surgeons