Doctors, judges and lawyers may seem to be three unrelated professions, but they do share something in common - they all solve problems. Yet few would have the chance to experience and compare all three careers.

YOU Hwa-jin '94, a doctor-turned-judge who has recently founded a law office, speaks of her unique and diverse experience.

"People often wonder whether I was involved in any medical accident that made me decide to turn to a legal career," said You."The truth is, I was slowly drawn to studying law as I watched people in distress while working as a doctor in a community center."

You, a graduate from the college of medicine at Seoul National University in 1994, started working in 1995 as a doctor in a women's rescue community center run by Seoul Metropolitan City.

"Unlike my colleagues who work in large hospitals, I was deeply involved in administrative and welfare-related jobs, in addition to medical care," she said.

While taking care of teenage mothers or sick women with nowhere to go, You started to think of how these people got into their dire circumstances. This led her to dig into the Korean legal system.

Her rising interest in finding and solving the root causes of social problems soon became a motive to become a judge.

She passed the bar exam in 2001 and became, after graduating from the judicial institute, the first female doctor-turned-judge in the country.

"A judge, among all judicial careers, is the most objective and neutral," said You."I also expected my court experiences to expand my general viewpoint on human life and society."

During her years in court, she used her former professional knowledge to solve many medical lawsuits.

"Though I did not intend to be seen as a medical professional, I could not deny that my previous career as a doctor helped."

A judge, however, does not necessarily need to have a medical background to become a professional in medical law cases, she added.

"The most important thing in dealing with medical cases is the judge's legal mind - just as in any other cases. My advantage is that I am better acquainted with the terminology."

Nevertheless, her unique medical background left in her more than just a set of terminology.

"Applicants of medical lawsuits, often patients or their families, are usually vexed at the physical and mental damages they have experienced," she said."Medicine, however, is not yet an omnipotent technology and one has to admit its limits."

Though patients, who are usually the weaker party, have to be protected from medical accidents, one has to face the reality, she said.

"This is where the judge's way of thinking matters, especially when trying to mediate the two parties into a reasonable solution," she explained.

After spending about four years in court, she recently decided to open up a new career, this time as a lawyer.

"I believe I can perform a meaningful role in legal circles, especially with the increasing number of people who seek a professional medical lawyer to represent them."

The so-called medical tourism in which many foreigners visit Korea for medical treatment also elevates the demand on professionals like herself, she said.

"Law involves all categories of human life, and those who deal with it - judges, prosecutors and lawyers - could use more diverse life experiences," she said.

The newly-launched law school system, if run properly, could potentially become a way to add such diversity into legal circles, she carefully added.

"Changing one's career means changing the entire course of one's life, and is therefore a difficult choice to make. Mine turned out to be worth making."

April 8, 2009
SNU PR Office