Ewha Womans Unviersity Cancer Center for Women Building in Mok-dong, Seoul

The Ewha Womans University Medical Center (EUMC) announced the official opening of theEwhaWomansUniversityCancerCenter for Women (EUCCW) on March 2. The EUCCW was formed to strengthen the EUMC’s competitiveness in medical examinations and cancer research, especially on the cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer that mainly affect women.

The EUMC traces its origin to 1887, when the Bo-gu-yeo-gwan was established by Mary Scranton as the first women’s hospital in . Ewha built its first modern hospital in Dongdaemun in 1958. In 1993, the EUMC opened its larger Mokdong hospital. For 122 years, the EUMC has been at the forefront of treating women’s diseases.

“The EUMC shares the same spirit asEwhaUniversity : to research and practice ideas that will improve the lives of women. So we decided to specialize even more on this aspect and to become the best in dealing with women’s diseases, especially with women’s cancers,” said Professor Moon Byung-in (School ofMedicine ), head of the center for breast cancer and thyroid cancer of EUCCW.

There has been a dramatic rise in the number of female patients suffering from cancer in the recent years in . According to the information provided by the EUMC, this is due to the natural increase in the amount of female hormones produced in a woman’s body, an increase in western-style living, and a rise in environmental pollution. The average age of Korean cancer patients is ten years younger than the Western countries and the number of female patients in their 20s and 30s have increased in a great number. 

The EUCCW is made up of two specialized hospital centers, one specializing in breast cancer and thyroid cancer and the other specializing in cancers that only occur in women, such as ovarian cancer and uterine cancer. A Center for Promoting Women’s Health, the first institution for recovery and examination in the country, is also part of the EUCCW.

The cancer center aims to treat patients diagnosed with cancer within a week, which will greatly help female recovery rates.

“Unlike other university hospitals that take too much time, often up to a month for treatment, the EUCCW has decreased the amount of time for operations. A patient can get an operation right after she is diagnosed with cancer,” said Moon.

The EUCCW also plans to make a more private and comfortable environment for patients by having female medical staff conduct medical examinations. The Center for Promoting Women’s Health will provide a separate area only for women during examinations.

To commemorate the opening of the EUCCW, special health lectures on women’s cancers have been held every Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. since March 5. The lectures will be held until the end of April. An hour before the health lectures, interesting classes titled, “Sending My Child to Medical school,” and “Women’s Beautiful Nature,” was opened to the listeners too.

Moon said that the EUMC’s vision is to establish the best professional hospital for women in the world. To achieve that vision, the EUCCW has three mottos: “Know well how a women’s body functions,” “Examine and treat a patient in the smallest amount of time,” and “Finally free women from cancer.”

Moon said, “With the help and interest of Ewha, we will try to follow those mottos with every effort and  boost the brand power of our center throughout the world.”

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지