Wooridul Spine Clinic Dubai and the doctors

The doctors, the nurse, the clinic...

Chances are you may have already met at least one of the doctors, if you are considering getting work done with your spine (or your back) at Wooridul. As far as I know, the core team consists of three specialist Korean surgeons and the incredible Sunny – the Korean nurse, who is many things at one time: the nurse, the coordinator, the FAQ person, the one to call for reassurance, the angel.

Yoda. The zen guy from Star Wars. That's who one thinks of when you meet Dr Shim. Shim is a man of very few words, but those words are precious. Pretty much all zen, Shim is reassuring, confident, calm and poised. As a patient of his told me on the phone "If Shim says he'll fix it, he shall." Now that's a pretty big testimonial. And, I Amen that...

Dr. Chanshik Shim (I chose to call him Yoda)

MD, PhD
Consultant Neurological Surgery and Head of the Department of Spine Care 
(Wooridul Spine Centre)

• Consultant neurosurgeon with over 25 years of experience in South Korea and the UAE 
• Named Doctor of the Year at Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, South Korea in 2006 and 2008 
• Has made presentations on spine surgeries at over 50 international conferences and symposia in Korea, Australia, Europe and the USA 

Professional Experience

• 1995: Began work as Staff Surgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at Sungnam Central Hospital, Sungnam, South Korea 
• 1999: Began work as Staff Surgeon in the Department of Neurosurgery at Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea 
• 2001: Began work as Director of Medical Affairs at Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea 
• 2009: Became President of Wooridul International Hospitals, Seoul, South Korea 
• 2010: Began work as Medical Director, Wooridul Spine Centre, Dubai, UAE

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Dr. Kiyoung Choi

MD
Specialist Neurological Surgery, Department of Spine Care (Wooridul Spine Centre)

Dr Patric Choi was the first doctor who was absolutely clear on what was wrong with me, and what needed to be done. He said it with precision and confidence, and he was reassuring about the results I could expect. Down the line, across all my appointments, Dr Choi inspired confidence and was just the right person who you wanted in that operation theater. Him, and of course, Dr Shim.

• Experience: 15 Years
• Languages Spoken: English,Korean
• International Experience: South Korea,UAE

Professional Summary

• Specializes in neurosurgery with clinical interests including minimally-invasive cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine procedures, endoscopic spine surgery, image-guided spine surgery and spinal deformities
• Prior experience in clinical care and hospital administration in South Korea
• Member of several American and Korean medical associations

Professional Experience

2005: Served as Director of Neurosurgery at Jeil Hospital, Gochang, South Korea 
2008: Served as Public Health Doctor at the Gochang Public Health Center, Gochang, South Korea 
2008: Served on staff of Wooridul Spine Hospital, Seoul, South Korea 
2009: Named Wooridul Spine Hospital Fellow of the Year

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Also...

Dr. Jongdae Park

Met him once, for the pre-op consent meeting, and he was just so re-assuring, very thorough and calming... Even at the pre-op consent meeting, I was having second thoughts. You read so many negatives on blogs and forums out there that you begin to wonder, what if...

Dr Park patiently shared my MRI and x-rays on the screen with me, and showed me where the problem was, and how, there was no actual way to fix it without the procedure. When I asked him if I could opt for physiotherapy instead of having the surgery, Dr Park smiled a bit and said something quite funny (in retrospect)... "You have a building. You have a problem with the ground floor and first floor of that tall building (meaning, I guess my L4 and L5), and you want to paint it instead of fixing the building?". I signed the forms.

MD Specialist General Surgery, Department of Spine Care (Wooridul Spine Centre)

• Experience: 20 Years
• Languages Spoken: English,Korean
• International Experience: Bangladesh,Mongolia,Nepal,South Korea,UAE

Professional Summary 

• Specializes in general and vascular surgery with extensive experience in performing minimally-invasive anterior spinal surgery, which he also helped to invent
• Performed over 2,500 orthopedic surgeries at Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, South Korea
• Recognized presenter at international orthopedic trade conferences

Professional Experience 
1995: Began rotations as Visiting Specialist at hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal and Mongolia 
2003: Began tenure as Chief of the Department of General Surgery and Vascular Surgery at Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, South Korea 
2008: Began work as Visiting Specialist in Vascular Surgery at Wooridul International Spine Hospital in Shanghai, China, where he also trained doctors 



And...

Sunny.

The Nurse, the angel, the guide, the friend of the family. Without whom...

First contact: (6 days pre-op)

Sunny the nurse called

Asked how I was doing, and if I had decided or not. She asked me to text her latest by Saturday morning if I am going ahead. She has also put me down for Dec 9th just in case. She wounded amazing.

She has seen my reports and told me that Physio, electrotherapy were non options because my case was advanced. She said it was important that I go ahead and get it done sooner than later. She also assured me that in most cases the doctors try and avoid surgery, so if other conventional therapies would have helped they would have said so without a doubt.

She also was aware of my concerns with Saudi German. She says she would be there for me, and, while yes, SGH were quite bad during Dr Lalonde (she remembers him), they have improved a lot. But she will be there as well as the doctors.

And she was there, immediately before the operation , after, the next day – making sure I was comfortable, making sure I was taking my first few tentative steps, that I had the right walking aid, the food was ok, everything. She was checking and changing my dressings, removing the drainage. She was just God sent.

But the most wonderful thing was her calm reassuring bedside manner. Not just with me, but with my family. Sunny was just what her name says: a bright ray of sunshine.