Oliver R. Avison (June 30, 1860 – August 29, 1959) was a Canadian doctor, physician, humanitarian, missionary and professor, who spent over four decades spreading Western medical knowledge in Korea during the Kaehwagi or Enlightenment Period.

Through fundraising efforts across North America prior to the opening, Avison received a series of donations from American philanthropist Louis H. Severance, the namesake for the teaching hospital.

Focused on increasing collaborative efforts, Avison believed that spreading the love of God was best achieved through educational missions alongside medical ones.

Avison's influences were drawn from Methodist philosophies as well as an admiration for his role model, Horace Underwood, the first Presbyterian missionary to work in Korea.

[2] Avison was awarded a Gold Medal for Pharmaceutical Proficiency for his excellence in the Ontario College of Pharmacy's (OCP) qualifying examinations.

Avison's missionary service experience was inspired primarily through his relationship with and admiration for Horace Underwood, his role model.

In response to this, Underwood applied on behalf of Avison to the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in New York without his permission.

[5] Despite the fact that Avison was originally a member of the Sherbourne Street Methodist Church, he decided to work with the Presbyterian Board.

Avison was also inspired by the poor state the Korean health system was at the time, as well as the inefficiencies of the lacking collaboration between missionaries of different denominations.

He was first appointed as a private physician to King Kojong, whose trust Avison earned upon successfully diagnosing and treating him for lacquer poisoning.

[1] The hospital in which Avison was working at was highly regulated, as the Department of Diplomatic and Commercial Affairs would send Korean government officials in to supervise.

Avison also designed and printed over 50,000 posters with the same educational message, all in the hopes of bringing a modern medical perspective to Korea.

Upon recovering from his illness, Avison made his way to New York to speak at the Ecumenical Conference on Foreign Missions in Carnegie Hall.

Avison also expanded the Hospital to include the first modern medical school in Korea, which is now known as Yonsei University College of Medicine.

Through his speech entitled "Comity in Medical Missions," Avison presented his theory in Carnegie Hall at the 1900 Ecumenical Missionary Conference, where notable figures such as President Benjamin Harrison were in attendance.

His talk covered the necessity for increased collaboration between the missionaries stationed in Korea, arguing that the medical work being carried out ought not to be a denominational enterprise.

[3] Overall, Severance Hospital has laid the foundation for modern medicine in Korea, and due to Avison's efforts, it has produced many doctors and nurses and an improvement in medical care.

Avison spread Western medical practices and sciences, ultimately leading to a great transformation within the indigenous population into well-trained, respected doctors, nurses and clinicians.