The Miracle of Remission
You’re really going to pretend you didn't hear that?
A dual-license holder. Commonly known as a "double-mask."
It refers to a rare breed of individuals who have completed both medical school and oriental medical school, holding two separate licenses. Having attended both types of institutions, these "double-masks" naturally have many acquaintances among Western-trained doctors.
The author began sharing the story of their doctor friend.
[When I asked what he meant...]
The post summarized their conversation as follows:
-Hey, can you cure CRPS with acupuncture, too?
-What are you talking about?
-I have a pediatric CRPS patient. It’s been two years since the onset, but medication isn't working well, and they’re too young for invasive procedures, plus the parents don't want it. It was a heartbreaking case with nothing much to offer.
-And?
-About two months ago, they asked to come in for a check-up a month earlier than scheduled. But the test results were insanely good. I thought it was a miracle, but it turned out they’d been receiving treatment from an oriental medicine doctor.
-From an oriental medicine doctor?
-Yeah. That doctor sent a note attached to the chart saying they wanted the check-up early because they thought it would be good to reduce the medication if possible.
-Sounds like a learned person.
-But the kid came back today. They said that oriental medicine doctor told them to get another check-up because they were writing a paper. We re-tested, and...
-And?
-It’s 90% better. 90% isn't just a number; you could practically call it near-remission.
-Whoa!
-I’ve always thought oriental medicine had its merits, but this time, I was genuinely shocked. Can you really cure CRPS with acupuncture? If this is actually possible, should we start telling patients who aren't seeing results here to go to your clinic?
[I told him honestly that I didn't think I could do it. That the doctor must be someone extraordinary. I run a combined clinic now, but if a CRPS patient came to me, I wouldn't have thought to try oriental medical treatment. But seeing this paper gives me courage. Since there is such a case, I think I’ll be more proactive in exploring various treatment methods. I wondered if it was my place to step in, but I felt uncomfortable seeing a doctor with such high aspirations being maligned, so I’m leaving this post.]
The view count climbed rapidly. The heated atmosphere of the debate room, where people had been busy slandering each other, had quieted down.
And then, comments began to appear on the post one by one.
The following Wednesday, this post appeared on the anonymous board:
The number of paper downloads increased, and Kyungwoo's name began to spread among researchers. Hospital Director Seong Jaeyoung witnessed the shift in the tide and slammed his desk.
BANG-
But only his fist hurt; he couldn't turn back the tide.
A week after the paper was published, Professor In Gyeonghak called.
"That’s a relief. When did you schedule it for?"
"It’s true that I had a hard time because you kept postponing the surgery."
They were a teacher and student who bickered, but they understood each other's hearts better than anyone. The teacher guessed why his perfectionist student had rushed to publish the paper, and the student vowed to repay the teacher who had stood as a shield between him and the crowd.
"Has the hospital atmosphere improved a bit?"
Even Hospital Director Seong Jaeyoung had clashed head-on with Professor In Gyeonghak in an official setting and suffered a decisive defeat. He wouldn't be able to push his agenda for a while.
"What does the surgeon say about the prognosis?"
"I’ll come to see you on the weekend after the surgery."
"I’ve been going up every weekend anyway. I’ve decided to open a clinic in Gyeonggi."
"Where?"
The answer that returned was...
"Right across from the Gwanggyo branch of Somyeong."
In Gyeonghak’s heart skipped a beat.
'Is it finally starting?'
After hanging up, Kyungwoo clicked on his paper page on the Oriental Medicine Science Society website.
> [download: 1426]
'Considering it’s only been two weeks since it was posted, the download count is huge...'
There are just over 25,000 oriental medicine doctors. Excluding the deceased, retirees, overseas emigrants, and those on leave, if we estimate roughly 20,000, that means 7% have downloaded the paper. This controversy played a significant role. And while this number will continue to grow...
'There will be a limit.'
To satisfy the criteria of the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok—a "medical text read by ten thousand doctors"—there needs to be a route where other medical scholars besides oriental medicine doctors can search for it. His previous journals easily exceeded 10,000 views because they were searchable on PubMed. To upload his paper to the massive hub where the world's medical scholars gather, the journal had to be indexed in Medline or PMC. Unfortunately, the Oriental Medicine Science Society journal was not indexed there.
'Should I upload it to a researcher community like ResearchGate? But I don't think a researcher would be recognized as a "doctor" by the book...'
As he was pondering this, another call came in.
"Hello?"
"Hello. This is Baek Hyeonyoung, President of the Oriental Medicine Science Society. We met at the academic conference last week."
"Ah, President! Thank you. The lecture was fun thanks to you."
"'The lecture was fun'… You really are Professor In Gyeonghak’s student. Thanks to you, our conference became quite the topic of conversation."
The President of the Oriental Medicine Science Society. Despite holding a highly influential position in the field, her tone was humble and elegant.
"Not at all. But may I ask why you called..."
"I called today because, personally, it’s a waste. It would be great if a paper like this could be seen on PubMed. Do you have any plans to rewrite it and publish it in an international journal?"
She wasn't calling as the Society President. As a fellow scholar, she was suggesting a way to make a good paper accessible to more people. And that aligned perfectly with Kyungwoo’s dilemma.
"Is secondary publication possible?"
"Translation alone won't be enough; the content would need some supplementation. It would be good to utilize the chart content you used during the presentation. Also, you would need the consent of the journal that published it first—the Oriental Medicine Science Society—and you would need to specify the previous publication history in the cover letter."
This meant the Oriental Medicine Science Society would actively cooperate. Kyungwoo’s eyes sparkled.
"Do you have any journals you would recommend?"
"BMJ would pass easily, but personally, I recommend *Explore*. It’s much pickier, but it is SCIE, after all. I’ve had a few of my papers published in *Explore*, so I can ask their editor for you."
"Thank you. That is exactly what I was hoping for."
Kyungwoo hung up the phone with a smirk.
'Just you wait, you book-bastard!'
The paper was published, but it wasn't time to be evaluated by the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok yet. He would wait until the conditions were met. If he could be recognized again as having written a medical text read by ten thousand doctors...
Not only would the number of disciples he could take increase to four, but the possibility of being recognized for having properly raised his first disciple would be much higher. Then, the restrictions on his disciples might be lifted.
'In that era, a medical text read by ten thousand doctors would have been on the level of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon or the Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica.'
If he told the book-bastard he’d written another one in the meantime, how would it react?
"Hehehe..."
A sinister smile played on Kyungwoo’s lips. But the astonishment of the medical text wouldn't have to wait that long...
"Doctor! Thank you so, so much!"
A few days later, the treatment for Yang Jinwon, who had been registered as an intractable case, was concluded.
In the meantime, Yang Jinwon, who had undergone parallel acupuncture, herbal medicine, and high-concentration bee venom therapy, improved day by day. Treatment started at the end of October, and it was now the end of January.
Three months later, he had reached a state that could be called remission!
"You’ll still need to manage it, but I believe you’ve reached a level where you have no discomfort in your daily life."
Of course, among ankylosing spondylitis patients, he was an early acute-stage case, which made him relatively easier to treat. That was why the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok had set a four-month timeframe, but Kyungwoo had shaved off a month and succeeded in three.
"I’m truly grateful... *sob*."
Yang Jinwon’s eyes welled up with tears. Of course, there was still a long way to go. Ankylosing spondylitis is a disease without a cure, and Kyungwoo emphasized that if he wanted to continue beekeeping, he would need to hire sufficient help and fully equip the facilities. But...
'I can keep living with my honeybees!'
He was so grateful just to be able to do the work he once thought he would have to give up. Moreover, the bee venom therapy video had caused the number of subscribers to the Honey Farm channel to skyrocket, creating not only YouTube revenue but also a direct sales channel for his honey.
"It’s all thanks to you, Doctor."
"It’s thanks to you following the treatment so well, Jinwon-ssi. You still need to come in for regular maintenance once a week. I’ll hand over the details to the successor director so you can receive the same treatment even after I leave."
"Yes!"
Yang Jinwon quickly handed over what he had brought in his hand.
"This is royal jelly made by our honeybees. It’s a small token, but it’s from my heart."
"Why go through the trouble... Thank you. I’ll enjoy it."
"Then, I’ll be going. See you next week, Doctor!"
Yang Jinwon’s steps as he left the door were much lighter. He could now return fully to his bees, to his life. Kyungwoo watched Yang Jinwon’s retreating figure through the window and smiled lightly.
Restoring a person’s life—this was the calling he had been granted as a doctor.
And...
"Hey, you heard that, right?"
> [......]
"You were good at eavesdropping when you needed something, so you’re really going to pretend you didn't hear this?"
When Kyungwoo pulled the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok from the bookshelf and opened it, the book snapped shut. When he opened it again, the pages flipped frantically as if a wind had blown, covering it all the way to the last page.
"Oh, come on. Denying reality doesn't make it disappear."
Kyungwoo opened the page for the 3rd chapter, Intractable Case Inquiry, and held the book open with both hands so it couldn't close. Only then did the encrypted array begin to squirm slowly.
The first sentence created by the medical text was...
"[How did you do this...]"
⟨ An exclamation in colloquial language that slipped out before it knew it. ⟩