The election has begun for the 43rd Korean Medical Association (KMA) president, the nation’s largest group of physicians. It is a by-election held after a vote of no confidence (impeachment) in the former president. The government-doctor conflict and medical crisis stemming from the policy to increase the medical school enrollment quota will likely continue through the coming year. Voices from the field have been drowned out by a flurry of policies to “reform healthcare.” The ticking clock does not wait for doctors. Candidates for the presidency say they are the right person to fix the situation. Korea Biomedical Review met with the candidates to hear their thoughts and visions. —Ed.
Choi Anna, planning director and spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association (KMA), has announced her candidacy for the 43rd presidential election. Choi vowed to leave the shadow of former president Lim Hyun-taek's impeachment and confront the government, leading “Choi Anna's KMA.”
In an interview with Korea Biomedical Review on Nov. 29, Choi formalized her candidacy, saying she had received a recommendation letter from the central election commission the previous day. With three days to go before candidate registration, which began on Monday, it will be interesting to see how the landscape will change with the emergence of a fifth candidate.
Choi said she would run under the banner, “Let’s change KMA, Let’s change the healthcare system.”
“Only when the KMA is changed can medical care be saved, and this is the only way for the KMA to live. If the KMA is to survive, it must be able to change the healthcare,” Choi said.
As a former member of the impeached KMA leadership, she feels responsible. Still, she wants to “run to the end and be properly evaluated.”
Choi is an obstetrician and gynecologist who graduated from Korea University College of Medicine. She worked as the director of the Central Fertility Center at the National Medical Center. After resigning from her medical post, she worked as a spokesperson and general affairs director of the KMA’s 42nd Executive Board and served as its planning director.
Question: You made a "surprise candidacy" three days before candidate registration.
Answer: I thought about it until the end. However, I realized it would be irresponsible to remain silent when I knew where this situation (the government-doctor conflict) would end up.
When I resigned from the National Medical Center and joined the KMA leadership, I held the hands of my patients and asked them to understand that the nation’s healthcare was in trouble. The fertility center where I worked is about to disappear. Still, here I am, unable to do anything.
Q: You were a member of the outgoing leadership. You will find it hard to avoid voices calling for responsibility.
A: The impeachment was decided by an overwhelming margin in the extraordinary assembly of representatives. As a person who shares responsibility, I know it is not without burden. (Former KMA President) Lim Hyun-taek's mistakes were so great that he was impeached. However, from the perspective of the KMA, the organization could neither fight nor negotiate. Even if I wanted to do something and be evaluated by the members, I wasted time being told, “If you do something wrong, you will be impeached.
I met many people during this impeachment process. When I asked them if there was an alternative, they said no. I wondered who would lead the KMA as a professional organization and face the collapsing healthcare environment. I decided that I couldn't leave the KMA like this.
Q: Is this a complete break with Lim’s KMA?
A: Let me be clear. From now on, it will be “Choi Anna's KMA.” You say it would be “Lim Hyun-taek Season 2?” Absolutely not. Nevertheless, I will continue to foster an environment where young doctors can actively participate and lead the KMA. The current executive board has more young doctors than ever before. In the future, we will change the structure of the KMA so that young doctors can lead the association substantively.
Q: The government remains adamant, saying that the 2025 medical school quota issue is over.
A: Some say, “The government will never realize until the whole system gets devastated.” However, it is our medical system that is collapsing and the people who are suffering. The government doesn't even know what will happen after the system collapses. However, we do know. The wait-and-see stance will mean the KMA’s failure as a professional organization, rendering the sacrifices of our members, medical residents, and students meaningless.
Q: If elected, will you let some members in the current leadership join in the new one?
A: I announced my candidacy today. I won't be able to take all the current leadership with me, but we've been working together for the last six months. Anyone who agrees with me that the KMA is not working as it is now can join the new executive board.
The center of my executive will be young doctors. I will have young physician representation in each division, focusing on physicians, within five years of getting a license. Whether they're specialists or generalists or have worked in clinical practice, research, or other areas doesn't matter. We will set the stage for the realization of their pure passion, and we will keep the draughts at bay. We will become the kind of KMA that can realize that.