“Overcome the language barrier and make Korea’s expertise known around the world.”

 

Dr. Seo Guil of Modelo Dermatology Clinic was invited to American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) held last March in Denver, Colorado and gave a talk titled ‘Asian Esthetics in Dermatology.’ He is scheduled to give a presentation in World Congress of Dermatology (WCD) that will be held in Vancouver next year.

“In the Western countries, I give talks on the aesthetic standards in Asia. I like to start my talk by showing photos of Angelina Jolie and Min-jung Lee (a famous Korean actress) and say that if both actresses ask me to marry them, I would choose Min-jung Lee. In the past, American doctors experienced disastrous results by applying the same techniques used in Caucasians to Asian patients. This got them interested in Asian aesthetics. Therefore, I focus my overseas talks on anatomical differences between Caucasians and Asians as well as differences in aesthetic expectations, etc.”

 

 Dr. Seo Gooil , Modelo Dermatology Clinic

 

The primary reason Dr. Seo likes to give talks in foreign countries is to let the world know about the excellence of Korean medical aesthetics.

“When filler and botox procedures started to become popular in Korea, Western doctors gave many talks in Korea. They emphasized contouring the face in an inversed triangle shape. However, Korean women did not want that facial shape. My personal goal in giving a lot of overseas talks is in part to educate differences in aesthetic standards of Asia so doctors of other countries will not try to teach us techniques that do not apply to out patients.”

 

 

Based on his wealth of experience giving talks around the world, Dr. Seo emphasizes customizing the talk to the audience.

“Regardless of whether you give a presentation in Korea or in another country, you should always adapt the talk to the audience. You should introduce basics to the audience of trainees or public health doctors and cover advanced materials with the audience of specialists. To foreign doctors, I try to resolve their questions. For example, they are particularly interested in face/body contouring, calf, trapezius muscle and thigh procedures using botox. They also find it fascinating when I go into the different doses of filler or botox in Asians and anatomical and technical differences, etc.

The biggest challenge in giving talks in overseas conferences is English. Dr. Seo also had to work hard to overcome the language barrier.

“In the mid 2000s, I gave a talk in a conference in a foreign country for the first time. I thought I spoke enough English as a dermatologist. I also thought my presentation was pretty good but came to realize that my English was severely limited during Q&A session. I was shocked to see comments such as ‘poor pronunciation’ or ‘cannot understand what he is saying’ in evaluation sheets.”

This experience made Dr. Seo strive hard to improve his English. It does not matter how good the material is if delivery is poor.

“I spent about five years intensively studying English. I prepared a transcript of my English lecture and had it reviewed by a simultaneous interpreter. I committed the revised text to memory so that I could immediately start explaining any slide in proficient English.”

Dr. Seo regrets that world-class medical aesthetic skills of Korea are not communicated globally due to language barrier.

“When I attend talks by foreign doctors, I find some of their materials lacking. Doctors from Hong Kong and Singapore are often invited to give talks in as they can speak English but I believe Korean doctors have a lot of new, innovative experiences to add to the discussion. If Korean doctors invested in improving their English skills, I believe the Korean medical expertise can lead the global aesthetic market.”

 

Article/ Yoo Inhong Yoo, Shin Yunae Photography/Won Sanghee, Kim Younggil