Establishment of Training School for Vaccinator and its Activities during the Great Han Empire

The Training School for Vaccinator was planned to be built in 1896, and it was established the following spring as an annex to Chanhwa Hospital. It was Furushiro Baikei that established and managed the school. He realized Korean people were hesitant about getting vaccination because of the old-fashioned method, and subsequently established the school to teach a new vaccination method to Korean students. At the same time, Furushiro"s effort backed up Japan"s aggression on Korea as Japan tried to regain its power through distribution of cultural and social facilities, following the incident of King Gojong"s flight to the Russian legation. Admission to the Training School for Vaccinator did not require special qualifications, and the classes were conducted through translation. Furushiro"s publication "Wisaengsinron(New Book on Vaccination)" provides a glimpse of the educational contents, which covered all topics related to vaccination operation including a method of cowpox vaccination and how to preserve vaccine. The class was one month long, but students usually attended the school for 4-8 months. Presumably, the length of education was fixed, and students acquired a license for a vaccinator upon graduation. Great Han Empire government dispatched graduates from the school to Seoul and provincial areas to disseminate smallpox vaccination method. The graduates were posted at the Vaccination Office at the periphery of Seoul or appointed as vaccination officials to perform smallpox operation. The graduates of the school at provincial areas could grant permit to local Vaccinators, which helped the new method to settle down. This indicates that the central government began to intervene in operation of smallpox vaccination at local regions. As the graduates of the school actively spread their learning, Furushiro’s fame also rose, which led to his appointment as the first teacher at the national medical school established in 1899. It is assumed that the Training School for Vaccinator closed down as Furushiro left for the new medical school. The establishment of the medical school indicates growth of the western medical science in Korea, which in the past consolidated its position through use of smallpox vaccination. In other words, the Training School for Vaccinator could be seen as a transitional school as the substance of western medical system expanded from smallpox vaccination to the broader range of medical scienceope