Yonsei University College of Dentistry, South Korea
The establishment of Yonsei University College of Dentistry was authorized by the Ministry of Education in December 1967. The next spring, 40 students registered in the predental course as the first Dental College students. However, since the Dental College could be considered as the predecessor of Severance Dental Hospital, which is the initiator of Western medicine as well as dentistry in Korea, it could he concluded that Yonsei Dental College is the most prestigious private school within the nation, sharing 100 years of history. Since the first 18 students graduated in 1974, 1,787 dentists have been produced.
In the darkest era of Japanese occupation, Dr. William J. Scheifley as a missionary began to teach Western Dentistry in a forgotten land, Joseon in 1915, which became the beginning of Korean dentistry.
Yonsei University is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of Korea’s three SKY universities, considered the most prestigious in the country. Yonsei was established in 1885 and is the oldest university in South Korea, when the first modern hospital to practice western medicine in Korea, Gwanghyewon, was established.
Jejungwon (later Severance Hospital) was primarily a hospital, but it also performed medical education as an attachment. The hospital admitted its first class of 16 medical students selected through examinations in 1886, one year after its establishment. By 1899, Jejungwon Medical School was independently recognized. Following the increase of diversity in missionary denominations in Korea, collaboration began to form. Jejungwon began to receive medical staff, school faculty and financial support from the Union Council of Korean Missionaries in 1912. Accordingly, the medical school was renamed as Severance Union Medical College in 1913.
The university was established in January 1957 through the union of Yonhi College and Severance Union Medical College. This was a result of a lasting bilateral cooperation between the colleges that began in the 1920s. The institutions were new to Korea at the time of their inception. Yonhi College was one of the first modern colleges, founded as Chosun Christian College in March 1915. Severance has its roots in the first modern medical center in Korea, Gwanghyewon, founded in April, 1885. As a tribute, the name ‘Yonsei’ was derived from the first syllables of the names of its two parent institutions.
The hospital building that was completed in 1978 consists of 9 clinical departments, an oral hygiene clinic and a student clinic designed for students to practice clinically. Yonsei Dental College particularly takes pride in its student clinic, which is the first to be operated in the nation and it is setting a model for other student clinics. Starting in Dec. 1995, a new dental hospital comprising 14850 square meters and a new dental college comprising 9,900 square meters were built and they are now the best facilities in the nation.
The Second College of Dentistry in 1977. Additional extension with 2 more floors of the building from existing 3 floors was carried out where the new building had clinics on the 3rd and the 4th floor, while offices for professors and seminar rooms were located on the 5th floor. There were separate rooms for each of departments, so that specialized care can be carried out.
The Current Building of the Dental Hospital. Following the groundbreaking ceremony on 8th of May, 1992, The consecration of new dental hospital was taken place on 18th December, 1995. The building was the first dental hospital with concept of interior design, which consisted of 2 underground floors and 7 ground floors. It was built with connectivity to college of dentistry, which was to be built on 1996.
The Current Building of the Dental College. The consecration of newly built college of dentistry was taken place on 10th of May, 1996. This modern building had 2 underground floors and 4 ground floors, which was connected to dental college hospital that was built in 1995, for the integration of education and patient care area. In 2004, the extension of additional 3 floors were taken place from the existing 4 ground floors, to accommodate research laboratories of basic dental sciences and teaching facilities. Also, the building was connected to dental hospital through the 7th floor, which enhanced teaching and research excellence of the facilities.