Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

Hallym University Medical Center (HUMC) successfully hosted the 4th Hallym-NYPH International Seminar on Medical Social Work at Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital on Dec. 10, 2014.

Under the theme of “Social Work Intervention for Outpatient with Depression,” three speakers from both Hallym and New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) shared their views on suicide prevention in the U.S. and Korea and suggested new solutions.

From NYPH, two senior social workers including Manager Eileen Stewart of Social Work and Senior Social Worker Joanna Pudil spoke on the need for effectively handling individual depression care, a new approach to treating mental health and case management for suicide prevention.

In a related matter, prior to the Dec. 10 conference, Director Paula A. Roberts of Social Work department at NYPH, gave a special lecture on “Overview of Social Work Services for Outpatient” on Dec. 9 at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital.

The specific programs including topics and speakers are as follows:

■ Session 1: Social Work Depression Care in Korea
1. Case Management for Suicide Prevention at Hallym University Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital
....(Wonhee Oh, Hallym University Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital)

■ Session 2: Social Work Depression Care in NYPH
1. Individual Depression Care in the Medical Clinics
....(Eileen Stweart, New York Presbyterian Hospital)
2. Group Therapy: A New Approach to Treating Mental Health
....(Joanna Pudil, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital)

This is the fourth year that Hallym and NYPH social workers convened in Seoul since 2011 when they met for the first joint international seminar.

In the 1st seminar in 2011, social workers at the two institutions exchanged their thoughts and ideas under the theme of “Changing Medical Environment and Challenges of Social Work.” The 2nd seminar in 2012 highlighted issues related to Diagnosis Related Group (DRG), and the 3rd meeting in 2013 dealt “Diversity and Cultural Competence.”

Since 2010, Hallym University Medical Center has dispatched two social workers every year to NYPH for a short-term training.

The cooperative activities are to deepen NYPH and Hallym social workers’ ties and to give Hallym social workers a window of opportunity to learn and benchmark NYPH’s exemplary social service programs.

By Jonghun Im, Int’l Cooperation Team, HUMC (imjonghun@hallym.or.kr)