Alumni

Alumni Spotlight: Bo Sung Sim, MD, 1955-1957

(Source: “Bo Sung Sim [1924 – 2001]: a pioneer of neurosurgery in Korea,” Journal of Neurosurgery, September 2006)

Dr. Bo Sung Sim (pictured at left) was born in 1924 in Seoul, Korea. He earned his MD at what was then Kyoung Sung Imperial University College of Medicine (now Seoul National University College of Medicine). What makes Dr. Sim unique is that his experience with the University of Minnesota’s Department of Neurosurgery wasn’t during a typical residency. It driven by the aftermath of the Korean War.

After Dr. Sim graduated from Medical School in 1949, he studied surgery at Seoul Women’s Medical College, the precursor of Korea University. It was during this period that he became aware of neurosurgery but could not receive training in the specialty because it wasn’t offered at the time.

Army medical officer
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Dr. Sim joined the army and served as a medical officer. As he treated various traumatic injuries, he began to feel strongly about the need for neurosurgical care. Military leadership agreed and equipped an operating facility where Dr. Sim devoted himself to managing head injuries. He was then sent to a U.S. MASH unit, where he fell under the influence of American neurosurgeons and built his experience and knowledge of systematic neurosurgical care.

Coming to the U of M
After the war, the International Cooperation and Administration Project was initiated by the U.S. government for postwar reconstruction in Korea. As part of the project, a technical agreement of cooperation between the University of Minnesota and Seoul National University, called the Minnesota Plan, was created. The Plan provided for a professor exchange program and Dr. Sim came to the U as part of the Neurosurgical Department’s residency program. Between 1955 and 1957, he trained under Dr. William Peyton and Dr. Lyle French.

Dr. Sim appreciated the many opportunities he was given in Minnesota to build his neurosurgical skills. He recalled fondly the journal conferences, which were held, “in a cozy manner at the houses of Dr. Peyton and Dr. French alternatively twice a month.” He noted that he and Dr. Peyton often attended football games after these conferences.

Pictured at left: Dr. Lyle A. French and his wife (far right) during their 1988 visit to Korea, with three University of Minnesota trainees (from left), Dr. Bo Sung Sim, Dr. Jeong Hwa Chu, and Dr. Kil Soo Choi. Courtesy of the personal photograph archives of Bo Sung Sim.

When he returned to Korea, Dr. Sim was appointed head of the Division of Neurosurgery, which later became the Department of Neurosurgery. He was largely responsible for laying the foundation for neurological surgery in Korea. When the intern and resident program was introduced in 1958, Dr. Sim began educating the next generation of Korean neurosurgeons.

Innovative neurosurgeon
Dr. Sim was also an innovator. He successfully treated a patient with intractable epilepsy caused by cerebral paragonimiasis, an infection caused by eating undercooked freshwater fish and crustaceans, which was prevalent in Korea at the time. It gained him international recognition.

Dr. Sim would go on to leadership positions, both in his department and of professional organizations such as the Korean Neurosurgical Society, which he helped found. He published more than 320 articles in medical journals and was instrumental in bringing basic neurosurgical research to Korea.