In 1958, Dr. Shih Tsun-jen performed the first brain tumor operation in Taiwan in what was then the Army 801 General Hospital, and is now the Combined Services Hospital. Since then, Dr Shih, currently chief surgeon at the hospital, has become something of a legend in the Republic of China. Of the 40-odd neurosurgeons in Taiwan, Dr. Shih has personally been responsible for training 24.
Born in Taichung in central Taiwan in 1923, Dr. Shih graduated in the first class at the National Taiwan University Medical School. After graduation, he volunteered to work at the military hospital and later went to Canada to study neurosurgery.
Dr. Shih said there is a need for more neurosurgeons in Taiwan, pointing to statistics which show there is one such specialist for every 500,000 people on the island, compared to one for every 100,000 in Japan.
Apart from dedicating himself to training more surgeons, Dr. Shih has recently been working hard to ensure that two important neurosurgery conferences are held in Taipei this spring to promote this field of medicine in Taiwan.