5:00 p.m. I head for Room 703 at Kyunghee Oriental Medical Center. It says "doctor's room" on the door. As I knock and enter the room, there are 4 residents all busy doing their works: either answering the phone, working on the computer, doing paper works.

(During the interview, other resident in the room receives a page from a professor.)

Resident Kim is in his third year as a trainee doctor at the department of acupuncture & moxibustion, Kyunghee Medical Center. He was also working on the computer for his paper.

<Daily Schedules for third-year residents>

·Morning(9:30 a.m.- 12:00)

Rounding: Professors, third-, second-, first-year residents, and interns

It actually starts on 8:30 a.m.

must do a "briefing" in front of the professors

·Afternoon(1:30 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.)

Roundings with second-, first-year residents, and interns

·Evening: preparation for the next day, paper works, and unfinished works.

·On call: first- and second-year residents are on call twice and three times a week each. They are under third-year residents' supervision.

◎Residents' treatment hour: once a week

◎East-West Co-diagnosis:

He goes to East-West Co-diagnosis Center twice a week for diagnosing with the Western medical doctors.

Dept. of A & C usually co-diagnoses with the Pain Clinic and the Rheumatoid Clinic.

◎Conferences:

There are conferences held for trainee doctors for more than once a week. It usually takes place late in the evening at the doctors' room.

Powerpoint presentations are commonly used.

◎As a trainee doctor, how is the hospital life?

It's a really busy place, and every doctor has to be alert all the time. There's also a lot of physical and mental stresses. I even started smoking after I came in here to join the trainee staffs, and I have about 9 cup of coffees each day. But I guess it all depends on what kind of attitude you have toward the process. I sometimes have to skip my lunches and continue with what I'm doing, but I try to take all my tasks as precious experiencing. I certainly wouldn't want to end up my life as a trainee doctor at a hospital, but I think having the chance to receive the training program is worth it.

So far, I think I've been pretty successful. I finished Korean Medical school with a relatively high GPA, and I'm getting the chance to be a acupuncture & moxibustion specialist. I even got married on the course. (He's married to Dr. Han Eun-jung, a second-year resident at the Dept. of Ophthalmolaryngology & Dermatology.)

◎Monthly Lectures

All the residents of acupuncture & mosxibustion at affiliated hospitals in the nation are required to participate in the monthly lectures.

◎Writing a paper:

He just finished working on his last paper. It will be on the "Journal of Korean Medical Acupuncture and Moxibustion". All the trainee doctors are required to turn in five papers during residency, at least one of which has to be clinically-related.

◎His training period ends this coming February, and he is to take the board examination.