An Essay by Director Hong Jun-ki, the “All-Around Host”
It’s been about three years since I first gave a lecture introducing my clinical practice and experiences to fellow doctors. I’ve now become quite accustomed to standing on the podium and have shed my novice image. At first, I spoke in front of colleagues here in Korea, but since last year, I’ve been traveling to Japan and the United States to give lectures and lead hands-on training sessions for local doctors. When I first opened my practice, I never imagined that lecturing would become such an important part of my life. I’m grateful and delighted to have colleagues who consistently listen to my still-developing clinical insights.
Looking back, my lecturing activities have transformed me both inside and outside the exam room. The change within the exam room is that I now practice “explainable medicine.” When I practiced alone, I simply had to devise and carry out a treatment plan based on my own judgment and intuition. However, to explain “why I treated a patient this way” in front of dozens of fellow doctors, it wasn’t enough to simply know the facts. I had to articulate the decisions I used to make intuitively in my head, backing them up with academic evidence. Through this process, every decision I make in the clinic is now supported by more persuasive reasoning than before.
The change outside the treatment room is the “normalization of documentation.” Having started my clinical career locally and then pursued my Ph.D. separately, I wasn’t initially accustomed to documenting the entire treatment process. If it hadn’t been for the opportunity to give a lecture, I probably wouldn’t have been so meticulous about capturing clinical photos and videos. If I miss a moment thinking, “It would be helpful to have this on record for when I explain it,” I have to fill in the gap with words during the lecture, which reduces the impact of my presentation. Only by vividly documenting not just intraoral photos before and after treatment, but also the intermediate steps of the procedure and even moments of unexpected trial and error, can I deliver a lecture that leaves no room for regret.
In fact, organizing and documenting information like this requires a considerable amount of energy. If I had spent that time seeing one more patient, it might have helped the hospital’s bottom line in the short term. However, once I actually went through the trouble of organizing the data, I found that, in the end, I was the one who benefited.
When I look back on past cases, I find myself wondering, “Why did I make that decision back then?” Not only do I see what went well, but I also notice areas where I might try a different approach next time. In a way, organizing materials to prepare for lectures has served as a stepping stone that has taken the quality of my medical practice to the next level.
Learning doesn’t happen only in the classroom. When I travel abroad to give lectures, I have the opportunity to tour local hospitals. I’ve visited quite a few hospitals run by acquaintances back in Korea, but hospitals overseas are a different story altogether. I’m often amazed by their innovative ideas, and there’s certainly much to learn from the way they treat patients. That said, I can’t completely overhaul my own hospital the moment I return home, but simply encountering environments I wouldn’t normally experience serves as a refreshing stimulus that breaks me out of my routine.
A lecture I began by chance has brought a pleasant butterfly effect to my life. These are valuable assets I would never have gained had I remained confined to the same examination room day after day. Today, too, I’m recording my consultations with my camera in preparation for my next lecture.
