Dr. WF Cheng

Educational experiences:

1. M.D., College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

2. Ph.D., Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

Training experiences:

1. Resident, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

2. Chief Resident, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

3. Fellow, Gynecologic Oncology, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

4. Fellow, Training Program of Gynecologic Oncologists, National Health Research Institute

5. Post-doctor, Cancer immunology and cervical cancer vaccine lab. (Mentor: Dr. T.C. Wu), Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

6. Observer, Kelly Gynecologic Oncology Service (Mentor: Dr. F. Mentz), Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Title: Visiting staff, Section of Gynecology, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital

 

Doctor Cheng looked into our eyes and told us, “You cure the patient, not the disease.”

Engineers work with machines, but doctors work with their patients. In the past, doctors handwrote case history while communicating with patients; nowadays, some doctors simply use computer to do the work with their eyes fixed on the screen, but not the patients sitting right in front of them. The good old days have passed, but Dr. Cheng inherited the good old ways.

 

Dr. Cheng’s Journey to an Obstetrician:

Due to a conventional belief built up in the Japanese Colonial Period, Dr. Cheng’s father hoped that he could become a decent doctor one day, and so he did. However, unlike his father, Dr. Cheng stated that he would not object if his children decided to choose a path different from his. Nevertheless, both his son and his daughter developed interests in the field, and wished to pursue the career to a doctor.

At first, Dr. Cheng was very interested in studying engineering. However, Technology class in the high school he attended was too hard for anyone to pass, so he failed. And that is the point when he decided to put studying medicine into consideration.

Death led to pain, which is why hospital is a sorrowful site. The only place that’s filled with joy is where new lives were given. That’s why he chose to be an obstetrician, to help bring new lives to the world.

When Dr. Cheng graduated from medical school, he made a decision to stay in National Taiwan University Hospital, in order to polish his profession in obstetrics and gynecology.

Over the past decades, Dr. Cheng learnt a lot through his interaction with his patients. He believes that a doctor should not under any circumstances lie to his or her patients (even if they’re white lies), because lies don’t live long. Doctors should practice how to communicate with people around them all the time, so as to enable them to tell patients the truth without hurting their feelings or startling them. What the patients really need is the support of their family.

Another notable experience in Dr. Cheng’s fascinating career is that he also has an EMBA, apart from his PhD in medicine. In the past, executives used to ignore the importance of management of hospitals, which led to ineffective working. To solve the problem, hospitals sent doctors abroad to study business administration, and Dr. Cheng was one of them. Since then, the effectiveness of the operation of hospitals has highly improved.

Fun Facts:

Despite the fact that Dr. Cheng is a polite gentleman, Cheng-Wen-Fang is a rather feminine name. And when it comes to obstetrics and gynecology, patients prefer female obstetricians because they think women ought to understand women more than men. Because of his name, Dr. Cheng met a lot of patients expecting that he should be a woman, which resulted in surprise and the cancellation of his service.

To find a female obstetrician, many patients tried again. This time, they met Dr. Su, who is also a man with a feminine name. And this is the origin why you’ll find obstetricians have to write their gender in back of their name on their business cards.