Yonsei Institute
for Global Health

1) Please introduce yourself.

My name is Samah Sami Himayda, I am 40 years old, married and having one daughter. Demonstrator in Umm Al-Quraa University

2) Where is your working place back in your country and what is your specialty?    

Umm Al-Quraa University, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department.

3) How did you get to know Severance? Why did you choose Severance as your training hospital?    

• When I applied to the Korean Medical Training Program web page, there was a list of major Korean Hospitals and Severance was one of them.

Severance Hospital is one of the oldest and biggest university hospitals in South Korea. It has huge number of beds and treats more than 2millions patients annually. It has a unique group of professors and a lot of clinical trials which make Severance a very good opportunity for training 

4) How long is your training period in Korea?  

My training will be 15 months duration.

5) Which area did you focus on during your fellowship at Severance? 

My training supervisor is Professor Jung-Yun Lee and Minimal Invasive Gynecological Surgery is the area I focus on during my fellowship at Severance.

6) What is the most impressive feature of Severance Hospital?  

Actually, Severance Hospital is a unique health institute. It began in 1885, and it is the  first Korean international medical institution evaluation committee (JCI) certification which was in 2007. Yonsei Cancer hospital where my training is the world's best cancer hospital. It has top-class medical staff, clean medical care environments, advanced medical technology including robot-assisted surgery. Severance Hospital practices the love of God upon which the hospital was found on, as well as love for human beings.

When I came to this hospital, the situation was amazing, and the organization was great. It is huge institute with all the subspeciality. The historical background was everywhere, how it was hundreds of years o back and how it become now. All the information was easily approachable. the work atmosphere here is very comfortable for the staff in all the branches .

7) What are the specific contents of your fellowship program at Severance?  

Open gynecological surgeries for benign diseases

Hysteroscopy procedures 

Laparoscopic procedures

Robotic procedures 

Clinical research

8) If you were to get the chance to come back, which field of clinical study would you like to focus on?

Well severance Hospital selected as one of the world's top three scientific journals, “Nature,” and ranked first in Korea as a research-oriented hospital in the field of cancer last year. So, I would like to involve more in researches as well as clinical trails

Also, I would like to involve more with the outpatient clinic, to see patients in their first visit take the opportunity to engaged in their initial workup and follow them postoperatively. Also I would like to have observational period in their radiology department , it is one of the most advance branch here in Korea and having a lot of advance images .

9) Who are you most thankful for at Severance(who helped you the most) & why?

Severance hospital staff are real very professional, kind and very helpful. 

I would like to thank:

1/ The general director for allowing international fellows to be trained in Severance hospital.

2/ the international office staff for their grate help and organization.

3/obstetrics and gynecology department staff for their gift and their welcoming.

4/Jung-Yun Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Yonsei University College of Medicine

For his supervision and teaching. 

5/Sunghoon Kim, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief & Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Yonsei University College of Medicine

For welcoming us and give us the opportunity for training and learning

6/ all the residents and fellows for their great kind help and support

7/ all the nurses and OR staff for their kindness and help

10) What was your first impression of Korea?

Life in South Korea is striking because of its many advantages, the most prominent of which are the following: Efficiency in providing services One of the most important features of life in Korea is efficiency; And enjoyed by the residents of Korea, they are punctual in their meetings, and get their things done accurately and effectively, in addition to express postal services, easy access to security centers, in addition to the availability of distinguished infrastructure.

Efficiency of the education sector Public education in South Korea is distinguished, as most schools focus on teaching science, mathematics, Korean and English languages, and there is an advantage that schools use by allocating a native English speaker to foreigners, and this is not limited to city schools but also rural ones.

Koreans value social relations Koreans value their colleagues, especially at work, and make this a priority.  Many Koreans even make time after work to spend time with their foreign colleagues to go for entertainment, eat or go to a party.

11) What is the best memory so far during your stay here?

The time of the cherry blossoms was one of the most important, extraordinary and beautiful memories for me here.  Seoul was full of beautiful flowering trees and a pleasant atmosphere.  The gardens were wonderful.  The color and scent of the flowers were beyond imagination.  I've heard about that season a lot, but I didn't expect it to be this wonderful.

12) Please describe a special/troublesome experience you went through because of COVID19 during your fellowship.

I came at the end of COVID 19 period, so there was nothing to tell. I did not have any impaction of COVID19 on my fellowship.