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Oliver R. Avison (June 30, 1860 - August 29, 1959) was a Canadian doctor, physician, humanitarian, missionary and professor, who spent over four decades spreading Western medical knowledge in Korea during the Kaehwagi or Enlightenment Period. Avison was recognized for founding and opening the Severance Hospital and the Severance Medical College in Seoul in 1904, two interlinked institutions that sought to treat the sick and expose the Korean natives to the practical teachings of Western medicinal sciences. Through fundraising efforts across North America prior to the opening, Avison received a series of donations from American philanthropist Louis H. Severance, the namesake for the teaching hospital.

Avison was most known for his innovative ecumenical approach to combine the efforts of medical missionaries across various denominations, pushing against the prevailing modus operandi of foreign medical missionaries in Korea at the time. Focused on increasing collaborative efforts, Avison believed that spreading the love of God was best achieved through educational missions alongside medical ones. Avison's influences were drawn from Methodist philosophies as well as an admiration for his role model, Horace Underwood, the first Presbyterian missionary to work in Korea.

Early Life

Oliver R. Avison was born on June 30, 1860, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, the third child in the family. In 1866, Avison and his family moved to Brantford, Ontario. By 1869, Avison moved to Almonte, where he graduated from Almonte and District High School. He became a teacher at Hutton's School House, a public school close to Smith's Falls. After spending a year teaching, Avison enrolled in a preparatory school for university, with the ultimate goal of studying and teaching at the University of Toronto. Avison met his wife, Jennie Barnes, while working at a drug store in Smith's Falls. They were married on July 28, 1885.

Avison was awarded a Gold Medal for Pharmaceutical Proficiency for his excellence in the Ontario College of Pharmacy's (OCP) qualifying examinations. Upon graduating from OCP, Avison was offered a role as an instructor. In 1887, Avison graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Medicine, M.B..

Missionary Service

Avison was always involved in missionary work. He worked as a lay-preacher in Toronto, and by 1885, had helped found the YMCA at the University of Toronto, where he served as its president. Avison was also the chief editor of the Medical Missionary, a Toronto-based publication first published in 1890. Avison's missionary service experience was inspired primarily through his relationship with and admiration for Horace Underwood, his role model. Underwood was the first American Presbyterian Missionary to work in Korea in 1885. In November 1982, Avison extended an invitation to Underwood to visit him in Toronto and discuss his missionary work. Inspired by Underwood's tales, Avison contacted the Methodist Church of Canada in the hopes of being sent to Korea. His proposal was rejected. In response to this, Underwood applied on behalf of Avison to the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York without his permission. Frank Ellinwood, the Secretary of the Board, invited Avison to New York to discuss the application Underwood had submitted.

Despite the fact that Avison was originally a member of the Sherbourne Street Methodist Church, he decided to work with the Presbyterian Board. By 1983, he was appointed as an official medical missionary. Avison was also inspired by the poor state the Korean health system was at the time, as well as the inefficiencies of the lacking collaboration between missionaries of different denominations.

Avison packed up his bags and arrived in Pusan, South Korea, with his family in June of 1893. By August, the family had moved to Seoul. Avison began working at Chaejungwon, the Royal Hospital. He was first appointed as a private physician to King Kojong, whose trust Avison earned upon successfully diagnosing and treating him for lacquer poisoning. Through this post, Avison was seen as governmentally endorsed by the Koreans.

The hospital in which Avison was working at was highly regulated, as the Department of Diplomatic and Commercial Affairs would send Korean government officials in to supervise. However, this was resulting in an overcrowding of the facilities. Avison petitioned for control over the hospital's operations completely independent from the government. In his demands, he expressed the desire to remodel the hospital with sole funding from the Mission Board. Through this, Avison hoped that the Korean government's intervention would cease. Only two years after his arrival to Seoul, Avison's proposal was eventually accepted. This kickstarted a new era of privatization in Korea's medical scene.

Cholera Outbreak

Upon Avison's arrival to Seoul, he was highly distressed by the lacking medical awareness throughout the population. At the time, there was a great discrepancy in knowledge about the causes of disease, as superstitious beliefs ran wide. Avison's first intervention involved the public health issue of cholera. Avison and his team, appointed by the Korean Minister of Home Affairs, set out to erect educational shelters around Seoul. These facilities' purpose was to educate the population on how cholera was spread, as there was a pervasive misconception that it had to do with spirits. Avison also designed and printed over 50,000 posters with the same educational message, all in the hopes of bringing a modern medical perspective to Korea. Avison perceived these efforts to be one of his greatest achievements.

Opening of Hospital Without Denominational Separation

At the time, there were a variety of American missionary organizations organizing for medical missionaries to enter the country. These medical missionaries would go on to open small clinics from which they would work out of under their own supervision. There was no collaboration between the highly dispersed and independent work being done by missionaries stationed in Korea. Avison, dismayed by the lack of collaboration for reasons he did not believe to be valid, desired to resolve this conflict.

By 1899, the Avison family temporarily moved back to Canada, as both Avison and his wife fell ill. While back in Canada, Avison met with the architect Henry B. Gordon to discuss the design of blue prints for a new hospital Avison wanted to build in Korea. Upon recovering from his illness, Avison made his way to New York to speak at the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions in Carnegie Hall. His talk covered the necessity for increased collaboration between the missionaries stationed in Korea, arguing that the medical work being carried out ought not to be a denominational enterprise. Instead, Avison's vision was to open a hospital in which joint efforts of all missionaries would take place. Louis H. Severance, a member of the audience, approached Avison and became a large financial contributor, enamored by his vision.

Upon returning back to Seoul, Avison purchased a 9-acre sized plot in the Todong district. Henry Gordon, the architect, arrived to Korea in June of 1901 to oversee the construction site. His presence was needed due to the lack of awareness among local contractors about Western building requirements.

On September 23, 1904, Avison's hospital, Severance Hospital and College, first opened its doors. By 1913, six differing denominations were collaborating with the hospital, sending missionaries to work there. By 1934, thousands of patients had been treated in Severance Hospital. Alongside this, 352 Koreans graduated with medical decrees from the hospital's college branch.

The Severance Hospital was one of the greatest revolutionary steps in the history of medicine in Korea, both in terms of advancing public health and providing medical education to the Korean people. Former missionary-educator J. Earnest Fisher (1889-?) noted, "nothing was being done"98 about providing Koreans with access to either formal medical training or modern Western medical technology, at least "until the arrival of Dr. Oliver R. Avison in 1 8 9 3 " indeed, the Severance Hospital "became the headquarters" of medicine in Korea

Avison's teaching experience at OCP and UTFM prepared him to establish a medical college in Korea. In fact, his vision of a college was modeled after his alma mater; similarly, Gale followed the example of the Ontario School System when he wrote textbooks for Korean students. Avison related: "Naturally my idea of medical education was that of the University of Toronto. Plans for a medical school must include the preparation of not only doctors, but also of nurses, pharmacists, dentists and opticians."104 Avison initiated a three-year course in Pharmacy in 1905 as well as a dental department, which was an integral part of the medical school.118 In 1906, Avison began the Nursing School at the Severance Hospital with the help of Esther L. Shields (1869-1941) . The first Korean licensed nurse, Bessie Kim, graduated from Severance four years later.119 Indeed, Severance Hospital and Severance Medical College was a nursery for Korean medicine. Avison was passionately committed to turning all forms of mission work over to Korean nationals "as soon as there has been sufficient progress,"122 he himself setting the example. When he retired in 1934, the presidency of the Severance Medical College was assumed by a Korean, Oh Kung-son, M.D. (1878-1963) .123

Reformation to teaching hospital

Return

The Avison family was forced to leave Korea due to the Japanese invasion on December 6, 1935. Upon return, Avison relocated his family to Florida, U.S.A. Avison's wife, Jennie, passed away on September 15, 1936. Avison outlived her by twenty years, passing away on August 28, 1956. Both Avison and his wife were buried in Smith's Falls.

Legacy

- Statues built in his honor

- Statistic of people served through hospital

- Effect on Korean medicine ecosystem

- Hospital is now a part of Yonsei University Health System (most reputable hospital in Korea)

In truth, Avison did leave a legacy of "exit" as was charged, for he was a visionary with a broad-minded approach not only to medical mission work, but also to evangelism in Korea. In this he was successful, for in 50 years after implementation of his plan to "indigenize" the missionary field, Korea was no longer a "missionary-receiving" country, but rather had become a "missionary-sending" nation,

Avison's primary tool for enlightening Korean society was not philosophical Western dogma but the practical teaching of Western medical and technological sciences. In wisely choosing this "instrument," he managed to reduce -- to some degree -- the Korean belief in demonic possession as the cause of illness. Furthermore, Avison fought against social discrimination, as shown by his serving as physician to both kings and outcasts. But most importantly, it was Avison who transformed the "miraculous" foreign medical field into an indigenous one by teaching Korean physicians that they, too, could take matters into their own well-trained hands.

Sources (haven't finished putting them all in right format-- WORK IN PROGRESS)

Han, Peter. "Sent by God: Canadian Missionaries Gave Their Lives in Korea." Presbyterian Record, Apr. 2014, p. 33+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A366460828/ITOF?u=upenn_main&sid=ITOF&xid=1961c0a1. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

This source is an article published in the Presbyterian Record. It discusses Oliver Avison’s background as a professor and his establishment of the Severance Hospital through the renovation and rethinking of the existing Royal Hospital.

Deep from Seoul’s Soul - Toronto Star

This source discusses Avison’s familial background as well as his educational path. It briefly discusses his marital status. Avison’s actions in response to the cholera epidemic throughout Korea are reviewed and explained.

Preeminent Medical Missionaries in the 20th Century: Oliver Avison

This source discusses the process through which Avison created the first Western-style hospital in Seoul. It discusses the impact Avison’s vision and approach had on the Korean medical education in a systematic fashion.

Oliver R. Avison and his Medical Contribution to Korean Society

This source delves very thoroughly into Avison’s life story, beginning at birth. It discusses Avison’s influences in terms of becoming a medical missionary, as well as his activities prior to the move. The text analyzes the events that took place in Korea from the moment Avison arrived. Lastly, it discusses his legacy, too.

Avison's Auto-biography

Haven't read it yet so cannot sum it up just yet!