Yonsei Institute
for Global Health

Completion Ceremony Held for Pre-Education Program for International Medical Trainees

The Yonsei Institute for Global Health recently held a completion ceremony for the Severance International Fellowship – Prime Course (SIF-PC), a pre-education program designed for international medical trainees, at the faculty meeting room.

This session of the program welcomed 15 participants—nearly a fourfold increase compared to the four trainees who joined in the latter half of last year.

Launched in March 2020, SIF-PC provides incoming international medical fellows at Severance Hospital with essential knowledge on Korean culture, the healthcare system, an introduction to the Yonsei University Health System, and clinical research and statistics. The program also qualifies participants to apply for permission to engage in "hands-on medical practice" in Korea.

Typically, international physicians who train in Korea do not possess a Korean medical license and therefore participate only in observational fellowships. However, those who complete SIF-PC and go on to undertake a two-month clinical fellowship are eligible to apply for hands-on medical practice status with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

SIF-PC is the first and only pre-education program in Korea independently developed and implemented by a private medical institution for international physicians. Until now, the opportunity to apply for limited medical practice was available only to physicians from certain Middle Eastern countries under agreements with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. With the launch of SIF-PC, international physicians from a wider range of countries now have the opportunity to pursue hands-on training in Korea.

“As Korean medicine continues to gain global recognition, we aim to develop SIF-PC into a flagship program that introduces the excellence of Korean healthcare to the world,” said Dr. Yong-Beom Park, Director of the Yonsei Institute for Global Health. The growing success of SIF-PC reflects both the international appeal of Korean medical expertise and the efforts of Yonsei University Health System to foster global medical collaboration and training.