The Office of Research sat down with Hee Jun Kim, Ph.D., RN - Associate Professor - to learn more about her and her work at GW.
Hometown
I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and I feel very fortunate to have been born there. I am proud to see Seoul recently ranked among the top 10 cities in the world by the World’s 50 Best Cities. Seoul is a fashionable, vibrant, and highly walkable city. Whenever I visit, I am amazed by how quickly the city embraces new technologies, innovative systems, and emerging food trends, making it exciting - and sometimes challenging - even for me to keep up with the changes. I grew up and lived in South Korea until I came here for my doctoral study in 2012. I completed my undergraduate and master’s degree in nursing and worked as a registered nurse in Seoul. Looking back on my school years and my time working as an RN in South Korea, I am grateful that I still have strong relationships with former colleagues from the hospital and friends from college. These relationships make me happy and give me another reason to visit my hometown, in addition to visiting my parents.
Educational Background
I earned both my BSN and master’s degree in nursing from Seoul National University in South Korea. After graduating with my BSN, I began working as a registered nurse in the Medical ICU at Samsung Medical Center, where I worked for about five years. I then joined the Nursing Staff Development Team for two years, where I had the opportunity to teach staff nurses and develop educational programs for them. After that, I was also sent to Dubai by Samsung Medical Center to help establish a new international collaborative clinic, which was the first project of its kind for the hospital at that time in South Korea. I stayed in Dubai for two years, working on the project, which marked the beginning of my experience living and working abroad. After nine years of clinical experience, I came to the United States and earned my PhD from the University of Maryland Baltimore, in 2016.
How I Got Interested In Research
Prior to pursuing my doctoral degree, my background was primarily clinical. I originally wanted to pursue a DNP, but I was not eligible to apply to a DNP program, which led me to apply to a PhD program instead. That decision ultimately led me to become a tenured faculty member here at GW. During my doctoral studies, I truly enjoyed reading textbooks and experiencing the joy of discovering and learning new things. I also appreciated the caring environment for students and the opportunity to work with great mentors who were genuinely eager to support my growth. By the time I began working on my dissertation research, I realized that I really enjoyed scholarly writing. I could spend several hours writing without even realizing how much time had passed.
My research interests focus on racial and ethnic differences in health, particularly chronic pain experiences. My interest in this area began during my international experience in Dubai, where I had the opportunity to meet and work with racially and ethnically diverse individuals from around the world. I became interested in how people’s cultural and social backgrounds might influence the way they think, behave, and experience health. My master’s thesis examined differences in health-promoting behaviors and related psychological factors between Korean expatriates and Arabs in the UAE. My doctoral dissertation explored racial and ethnic differences in experimental pain sensitivity and the role of psychological and cardiovascular responses.
Current Work
I am currently finalizing an NIH-funded R21 study focused on developing a tailored psychoeducational program for chronic pain management among Korean Americans in the community. I am very grateful that I was able not only to receive funding for the project, which supports an underrepresented and under-resourced population in this area of research, but also to successfully complete the study. I am currently working on disseminating the findings from the project.
My next project is to expand the population to include Asian Americans more broadly and learn more about the prevalence and experiences of chronic pain, as well as the multidimensional factors associated with those experiences. I am also interested in conducting an efficacy trial of the interdisciplinary collaborative, and individualized chronic pain management program and conducting cross-cultural comparisons of the associated factors in collaboration with colleagues in South Korea.
Fun Facts
I have a 10-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. They are my joy and a blessing to our family. My daughter just started taking cello lessons, and she loves it so much. The cello is an instrument I always wanted to learn but never had the opportunity to, so I wanted my daughter to have the chance to learn it. I love music and served as a church pianist from elementary school until I had my son. My son plays percussion, and my hope is that someday we can have a family recital together.