▶코넬대 의대·플러싱병원 침술과 책임자로 진료
▶한의학에 대한 침구학 책 7권 편찬하기도
▶타민족 환자 진료하며 서양의학과 절충 폭넓은 의료활동


한의사 이수호 박사는 1975년 뉴저지 ‘김 재활병원’(원장 김기호)의 초청으로 도미, 1976년 뉴욕주 침술면허를 받고 뉴욕의 한인의사들이 모여 설립한 한국의료원에서 3년, 중앙의료원에서 36년 진료 활동을 펼쳤다.

이 박사는 도미 전 경희대 한의과대학 및 대학원(한의학 석사) 졸업 후 경희대 한의대 조교수로 재직, 1971년 서울대 보건대학원(보건학석사)을 졸업하고 1983년 캘리포니아 삼라한의대(SAMRA University of Health Science)에서 Oriental Medicine(한의학) 박사 학위 취득했다.

당시 미국이 경제발전으로 개인자동차를 이용하는 사람들이 많아지며, 사고 후 재활과 통증치료에 대한 침술치료의 관심이 높아짐에 따라 여러 분야의 환자를 진료할 수 있었다.

이 박사는 40여년 가까이 뉴욕 한인 및 타민족들에게 한방 및 침술의 효능을 알리는데 앞장서오며 1998~2001년 코넬대 의대와 플러싱병원 물리재활의학과 산하의 침술과 책임자로 진료했으며, 2002년 커네티컷주 브릿지포트대 한의과 대학원 교수로 클리닉 디렉터와 진료 감독을 역임했다.

이 박사의 삶의 철학은 중용의 도를 지키며 성실하게 삶을 사는 것이 기본이었다. 이화여전에서 한문과 도덕을 강의했던 부친의 영향으로 한문에 관심이 많았다.

경희대 교수 재직 중 외국에서 온 많은 교수들이 가지고 있는 한의학 원서, 영어로 번역된 중국의 한의학 서적들을 보고 미국에서 연구를 해야겠다는 뜻을 굳혔다. 1970년대 후반 닉슨 대통령 시절 중국이 문호를 개방하며 중국의 많은 한의학 서적을 미국에서 접할 수 있었다.

이 박사는 최용태 경희한의대 침구과 주임교수와 공저로 한의학에 대한 침구학 책 7권을 편찬하기도 했다.
이 박사는 뉴욕에서 많은 타민족 환자들을 진료하며 한의학이 서양의학과의 절충 보완으로 통증치료, 불임, 알러지, 스트레스 우울증, 비만치료 등 여러 분야에 응용될 수 있는 폭넓은 진료 노하우를 쌓았다.

이와 함께 평소 중요시 여기던 대학 동문들의 친목을 위해 서울대 미주동문회 뉴욕지부 송년모임에 30여 년 동안 매년 빠짐없이 참석하는 등 동문들의 유대 강화와 한인사회 교류 강화에도 힘썼다.

“아버지를 그리며…”
■ 조사 - 아들 이한석
My dad was a great dad. Now, many of you may know him as a friend, colleague, or in a professional manner but how was he like a dad? Well, I can tell you. Actually, instead of telling you, I’ll just share some stories about him.

Interestingly enough, I’ve never had a deep one-on-one conversation with my father. He was a man of few words and there was never much specific guidance growing up; other than telling me to work hard, go to a good school and wear a suit wherever I go. Ever since I can remember, he was aloof,eccentric, enigmatic and sage-like. I used to think, maybe that’s just the Korean way.

But what I noticed most since I was a conscious being was that he was always at work, usually from 7 am ? 7 pm, 7 days a week. That’s just what he did. I called him the work Terminator to my friends and said he is programmed to keep working until he physically cannot.

On a more personable level, my dad was extremely funny, especially when he met my friends.
He would always make self-deprecating jokes that he worked too hard, and in his exaggerated Korean-English accent he would say that “I will be die very soon”. He started saying this since his 40s. He’d pick on the most talkative friend and say, “Ahh, you are smarthead! I’m not smarthead but I work hard!”. We all laughed and thought he was just being goofy.

On a public level, I noticed that my dad was extremely humble, respected, generous, kind and sincere - even to people who said negative things about him. He truly treated everyone with the same politeness and respect and this never waivered his entire life. Even to me he rarely raised his voice and only disciplined me if I really did something bad as a child.

But what I noticed more later was that my dad was always there when I needed him most. [중략]

But yet he kept working every day, until his friends retired, until his medical building was sold and he had to move into a small private office. And he kept working until this January when he slipped in the snow around 6 am, on his way to work of course, and I happened to be awake and heard our neighbor frantically trying to get help so I was able to run out and carry him inside.

We thought he had just hurt his back, but he never got better. When I knew the gravity of the situation, I knew something kept me awake that morning because I had to be there for him when he needed me most.

It pains me so much that he could not speak during his entire hospital stay because of the breathing tube he had to have administered. But it only adds to his aloof and sage-life image just as if I were a child.

And reflecting on how he has always been in my life, I now realized that it was his traits that became a part of me as an adult: to focus myself as much as I can to reach my ambitions in whatever I pursue and to be as kind, humble and generous as possible.

Ultimately my dad’s guidance came not with words but with his actions, and actions always speak louder than words. Like I said, my dad was a great dad. Thank you in the deepest way possible. I love you, we love you and you will be terribly missed.

■ 조사 - 딸 이연실
My father was known by everyone as Dr.Lee- he was an Oriental Medical Doctor with a PhD and it was very important to him to be involved in scholarly work. When we came to the USA, leaving his faculty appointment at Kyung Hee University was the biggest thing he missed.

Despite having a busy private practice as an acupuncturist and herbalist, my father tried very hard to be involved in academics here. He loved being a professor at the University of Bridgeport and he never passed up a chance to give a lecture at a conference or meeting.

Despite his busy work life, my father was very committed to his family. I have wonderful memories of going on vacation trips to any place within driving distance from New York during holiday weekends. My father loved to go fishing- we would catch tons of fish and my mother would prepare delicious fresh hweh to eat right on the boat.

My father loved to take pictures of his family, especially his grandkids. He used an old fashioned camera and would go through many rolls of film to capture many important family moments.

These are some of the great memories I have of my dad. The thing I will remember most about him was his constant respect for elders and tradition- he was very into the Korean way, and being respectful of the older generation. And so it’s great to see all of you here because he really loved collegiality and making sure that everybody was given enough to eat and enough respect.

And so we will miss him greatly. Thank you so much for coming and of course, we respect our dad. We love you and we’ll miss you.

■ 조사 - 손녀 나디아 밀로비치(Nadia Milovich)
Dear Hal Ah Buh Jee:
Thank you for being one of my biggest role models. Hardworking, kind, and compassionate,
Colson and I will forever look up to you. We used to joke about how many pictures you took of us, on that old film camera that was probably 2 times older than me.

Yes it was funny then, but when we got the pictures all printed back we loved going back to look at them to remember what foods we all ate or what crazy activities we did on vacations together. (One of my favorites was when we got the pictures of Hal Muh Nee and my mom doing Zumba dance classes on the beach in Turks and Caicos).

Now there were always the phone calls on special occasions. Whether it be a holiday like celebrating the start of a new year, or a birthday, you would check in and make sure Colson and I were getting good grades, and would applaud us every time we said we were. Your pride over our achievements was one of the most rewarding aspects of doing well in school. We are sorry we didn’t visit more often.

However, we cherish the memories we made with you, all the laughs we shared and the cool places we went. And we also thank you. Not just for taking tons of pictures to make sure we don’t forget a second of what we all experienced together but for being someone to look up to.

For caring about our futures. For checking in, making sure we are doing well in school and keeping up with our sports. Thank you for supporting us in everything that we do. We love you forever.


“이수호 박사님의 명복을 빌며”
■ 추모사 - 금영천 서울대 뉴욕동창회 회장

모든 서울대 동문들의 마음을 모아 소천하신 이수호 박사님의 명복을 빌며 유가족들께 심심한 조의를 표합니다.
서울대 미주동창회지에 실린 인터뷰에서 말씀하신 내용을 소개하며 이수호 박사님을 회상합니다.

이수호 박사님의 삶의 철학은 중용의 도를 지키며 성실하게 사는 것을 좌우명으로 지키며 47여년간 한인사회는 물론 서울대 동창회에 헌신하셨습니다. 이수호 박사님은 너무 바쁘게 살아온 가운데 여행을 많이 떠나지 못해 시간이 허락하는대로 여행을 많이 다니길 희망하셨습니다.

감명 깊은 영화로 ‘헤밍웨이의 노인과 바다’, ‘보리수’, ‘닥터 지바고’ 라고 하셨습니다. 이수호 박사님이 이승에, 좌절과 실패를 극복하고 진정한 자신의 삶의 의미를 찾고 또한 상처받은 이를 진정으로 이해하고 치유해 주시던 한의사로의 삶과 일맥상통하는 영화들이라고 생각됩니다.

그동안의 100여편의 학술논문을 잘 정리해서 한의학 공부에 도움을 줄 수 있는 책을 편찬하고 싶어 하셨고, 한의학이 예방의학 차원에서 발전이 있도록 연구를 더하고 싶다고 하셨습니다. 한의학의 발전과 보급을 노력하신 삶이었다고 회상합니다.

서울대 동창회의 발전을 위해서 동문들과의 좋은 유대관계를 갖고 서로 돕고 협력하는 동문회가 되길 바라셨습니다.

돌아 가신 곳에서는 원하시던 모든 것이 다 이루어지고 평안하심을 삼가 기원합니다.
다시한번 이수호 박사님의 명복을 빌며 모든 유가족들께 심심한 조의를 표합니다.

<이지훈 기자>