Love, passion, positive mindset at the heart of physician-educator Lee Gil-ya’s life of social contribution


SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi Province ― For Lee Gil-ya, a stethoscope is more than a medical instrument. It is a conduit through which she has shared with her patients her love and passion ― the core elements that underpin her life of service and philanthropy.

“I give a stethoscope to our medical school graduates at their commencement ceremony each year, and always tell them to become a doctor who treats patients with all their heart,” the Gachon University president told The Korea Herald at her office in Seongnam on Tuesday.

Having opened an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Incheon in 1958, Lee always carried her stethoscope in her bosom to keep it warm before examining her patients.

“I wanted to share with my patients the warmth of my heart because I loved them. I might have been their mother, teacher or mentor,” she said.

“At the time, everybody was struggling with poverty as our nation was recovering from the Korean War (1950-53). We had never heard of the word ‘volunteering’ then. I was just happy to be able to help them.”

Lee is now continuing her social contributions as head of the Gachon Gil Foundation, which aims to enhance the public good through medicine, education, journalism and culture.

After returning in 1968 from a period of training in the U.S., she admitted patients who could not afford to pay the deposit that other clinics demanded to stop them sneaking out without paying their bills. She also regularly traveled with her staff to treat the sick on the western border islands.

As a key symbol of her love toward her patients, her hospital has offered free uterine cancer examinations to more than 119,600 women over more than four decades.

Lee’s hospital has also treated more than 240 patients from developing countries, including Vietnam, Mongolia and Iraq, since 1991.

Her empathy with the sick derives from the bitter experience of losing her father and a friend to diseases that are now easily curable.

When she saw her close childhood friend die of a contagious disease, it left an indelible shock.

In 1948 when she was a high school student, her father, who owned a rice mill, suddenly died of pneumonia that could have been treated in other parts of the world.

Despite the conservative social atmosphere that discouraged women’s pursuit of higher education, her mother unwaveringly supported her until she died in 1998.

“My grandmother once said that there was no point in women studying, strongly opposing my entering the university. But my mother was behind me all the way, motivating me to keep studying,” she said.

Her mother also instilled compassion in her, always helping beggars who knocked on her door.

“While helping the beggars, she told me that people were all equal and that we should not look down on them,” she said.

Her decades-old contribution to society has now made her an icon of success, putting her on the U.S. magazine Newsweek’s list of 150 fearless women in March, along with trailblazers such as Hillary Clinton and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her Gachon Gil Foundation runs Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Gachon University, Gachon Cultural Foundation and the Kyeongin Ilbo newspaper.

“(My success) has come somewhat naturally. I tried my utmost for my patients, and my hospital then gained recognition through word of mouth,” she said. “As it got bigger, I turned my attention to nurturing medical students and nurses.”

“I then felt the need to expand into education and now I am doing my best to develop Gachon University into one of the country’s top 10 schools by 2020.”

Gachon University opened in March, the result of a merger between Gachon Medical and Science University and Kyungwon University. Lee is spearheading the university’s efforts to globalize, with an emphasis on helping its 20,000 students develop foreign language skills and embrace different cultures.

“The world is getting smaller and smaller, something unimaginable decades ago. We thought the U.S. was farther than the moon. But things have totally changed. Our aim now is to produce people who can proudly compete on the global stage,” she said.

In February, the university established a language immersion center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The state-of-art center provides free English education and accommodation to 300 students each year.

The school has also inked agreements on student exchanges with some 60 universities in the U.S., Europe, China and Japan. It offers its 400 foreign students mentoring and practical classes on adapting to Korean culture.

Success often comes with its share of setbacks, but Lee cannot remember any failures.

“I am still climbing up a mountain (of my life). I might have made some blunders along the way, but from a broader perspective, I would say there were no serious failures in my life,” she said.

But this appears to have made her oblivious to the barriers women face in society and at work.

“I have never thought that I could lose to men in any competition just because I am a woman. If you have that sort of mindset, you can’t rank first in your field. Everyone has his or her own talents, irrespective of gender. I don’t think I am where I am now because I was special,” she said.

This attitude to her position has long commanded the respect of her foundation’s 5,000 staff.

“I love my people here at school and hospital just like my sons and daughters. This love is the bedrock of my leadership,” she said.

“On top of this, a leader should set an example. A leader should not tell one to be diligent when he or she is not. Leading by example is another principle of my leadership.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)