Abstract

This article revisits the history of rural community health projects in 1970s South Korea through the biography of Dorothea Sich (1933–2017), a German physician whose career trajectory led her from medical mission work to preventive medicine and ultimately to medical anthropology. The study examines Sich’s engagement with community-based health initiatives in rural Korea and situates her work within the broader context of international health and development. By tracing Sich’s shifting roles—from missionary physician to public health expert and anthropologist—this article highlights how cultural encounters, medical pluralism, and development agendas intersected in Korea’s rural health programs. Through this biographical lens, the study not only sheds new light on the transnational dimensions of Korea’s community health history but also demonstrates how individual actors contributed to shaping both local health practices and the emerging field of medical anthropology.