Joseph Bol becomes South Sudan’s first neurologist

Joseph Bol has become South Sudan’s first neurologist, completing his residency at Black Lion Hospital at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Bol was a child in Tonj, South Sudan, when he met the late Father Lee Tae-seok, a South Korean missionary and doctor who provided medical and educational services in the region until his death in 2010.

Bol’s medical education was supported by the Lee Tae-seok Foundation through the ‘Kwon Seong-hyeon Scholarship.’ This scholarship was funded by the parents of the late Kwon Seong-hyeon, a student who passed away from leukemia after being accepted to Seoul National University College of Medicine. The scholarship aims to fulfill the unreached medical dreams of young people.

Bol chose to specialize in neurology because South Sudan lacks specialists to treat neurological conditions such as epilepsy. He expressed his intention to return to his home country to provide care to those in need, honoring the legacy of Father Lee.