Shih Chun-jen
Shih Chun-jen was a Taiwanese neurosurgeon who led the Ministry of [Health and Welfare (Taiwan)|Department of Health] from 1986 to 1990.
Life and career
Born in Taichung in 1923, he studied medicine at National [Taiwan University]. Upon earning his degree in 1947, Shih began working for the National Defense [Medical Center]. He completed his residency at Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital in Canada from 1956 to 1958 and returned to Taiwan. That year, Shih began a cancer registry among three Taiwanese healthcare systems: National Taiwan University Hospital, Tri-Service General Hospital, and the Veterans' General Hospitals. A larger registry overseen by the Department of Health was started in 1979. Shih was appointed the head surgeon at Tri-Service General Hospital, a medical institution affiliated with the National Defense Medical Center, in 1975. Two years later, he co-founded the Taiwan Neurological Society. Shih left Tri-Service General Hospital and the National Defense Medical Center to lead the Department of Health and stepped down from the DOH in 1990.He died of a heart attack in 2017 at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, aged 93.