Why this AMC professor, treating 500 lung cancer patients annually, resigns from his position

The government is reportedly examining legal grounds to penalize medical school professors who submit resignations or take leave of absence. However, no amount of threats or persuasions seems work to deter those who decide to leave the field.

Last Friday, Dr. Choi Chang-min, a professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Asan Medical Center (AMC), who has seen more than 500 new lung cancer patients a year, laid down his “professorship.” Dr. Choi also heads the emergency committee of the Medical Professors Association of Korea (MPAK).

Choi concluded that he could not continue as a professor in a medical field where medical students and trainee doctors have left, where there are no opportunities for training junior doctors and no research for patient care. This also explains why medical professors’ resignations are more than just threats. Dr. Choi, who said he has submitted his resignation and is handing over his jobs, has already finished transferring his patients to remaining doctors.

"Now that I have decided to resign, I shouldn't lie," Choi said bitterly in a telephone interview with Korea Biomedical Review.

"When the professors first decided to resign, it was a protest against the government. We wanted to make people understand the seriousness of the situation by resolving to resign,” Professor Choi said. “We thought we could go back once this issue was resolved, but the current atmosphere is completely hopeless. I realized that if medical students and trainee doctors) don't come back, it's the end of the road for professors."

The professor's resignation was triggered by the government's announcement of the 2025 medical school entrance examination requirements. Since March 25 when the professors announced their resignations, they have all but finished streamlining their personal affairs.

"Struggling professors who have worked long hours in hospitals are essential doctors that the government vowed to save. However, the government is making those doctors unbearable. Which medical student or trainee doctor will want to become a respiratory physician after seeing my resignation? If this situation continues, the future will be lost," he said. “That's my biggest worry."

Another concern for Professor Choi is future patients. According to the latest National Cancer Registry statistics, the survival rate for lung cancer, the number one cancer killer, was 12.1 percent from 2017 to 2021, more than double that of a decade ago. However, since February, neither research nor new patients’ inflows have been suspended. This means that further progress is hard to expect.

"In the case of lung cancer, about 10 hospitals, including the 'Big Five,' see half of all lung cancer patients, but the treatment is not progressing smoothly. Could it be limited to lung cancer? Since February, the diagnosis rate of new cancer patients has been falling because professors have not been able to diagnose new patients. Still, the government doesn't seem to know about this situation," Choi said.

He continued, "The same can be said about research. I have to present at conferences and write a lot of papers, but the conferences scheduled for this year have been canceled and I can't attend conferences overseas. I don't even have time to focus on research. In a situation where the research environment (for treatments) is changing rapidly, if we stagnate for a year or two, we are finished."

Professor Choi reiterated his deep sense of regret and frustration.

"As a professor, I have been involved in many government committees for the development of medicine, but I feel that it is useless," Choi said. "I want to forget about everything else and just treat patients, and I will eventually return to patients.”

Choi emphasized that it is most urgent to normalize the situation so that medical students and trainee doctors can return to their jobs. He stressed that the government should stop increasing medical students and form a council to discuss the situation with the medical community. He repeatedly asked the government to stop the situation.

"The moment they make an announcement finalizing the medical school entrance examination guidelines for 2025, it's a death sentence for Korean healthcare," Choi said. "They should stop increasing the number of medical school students, form a council to discuss it, and select the seats for next year. I also hope the trainee doctors and medical students will stop at expressing their opposition to the government policy. I wish they would stop whether it’s out of generosity or other causes. I just want it to stop."