August 2007
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Destination Children's: Cheonil Kim, MD
The secret to his success
Cheonil Kim, MD, attended medical school in Seoul, Korea, where he was born, but he knew that once he finished his degree, he wanted to practice medicine in the United States. But before he could leave Korea, he had to serve in the medical branch of its army. "It was just like that show M*A*S*H," he remembers, laughing.
After the army, Kim made the move overseas and in 1980 began his fellowship at Children's Hospital Boston. From the start, he found it to be a great fit. "I liked it and they liked me," he says. "The families make you feel so good about working here." One of the biggest differences he noticed between American and Korean hospitals was how patient-doctor relationships worked. "People are more skeptical of health professionals in Korea," he says. "Families here are positive because they trust in you—and the institution. That motivates me to give 100 percent."
Kim trained in General Surgery for two years before he decided to make a switch to Anesthesia. "It takes a certain type of person to be a surgeon and that wasn't me," he says. But that hasn't kept Kim out of the operating room (OR). As an OR director focusing on anesthesia during otolaryngologic (ears, nose and throat) surgeries, he ensures that the surgeries run smoothly, while acting as a liaison between surgeons, nurses, departments and families.
Despite his success, Kim still considers his language barrier to be a big challenge. "I give professional talks, but it's on a basic level of communication," he says. "It helps that I'm in the medical field, especially at Children's, since people really try to understand me in context, despite my mispronunciations." He brushes up on his elocution from time to time with English lessons and gets a fair amount of practice talking to his three American-born sons. Kim considers himself a family man and attributes this to his heritage. "My cultural identity is pretty strong," he says. "I'm very family-oriented and half of the food I eat is from my culture—I like the spice." Although all of his sons are American, he says, "They have stronger cultural connections to Korea than I thought they would—their heritage is always on their minds, and that's reflected in the food they eat."
Being bilingual has been useful to Kim when treating Korean-speaking patients over the years, and many departments have sought his translation help. "Even if the family speaks basic English, they may need clear communication to feel comfortable. I'm proud to help," he says.
Kim knows that the decision he made decades ago to immigrate to the United States was the right one. "In Korea, the medical profession is about fame and prestige," he says. "Those weren't my goals and that's not my style," he says. "Here, it's about respecting the individual and quality of care. People appreciate my work and my presence. I consider that success."
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