'Obsessed with "200 Million Won Salary," Korean Doctors Missing Out on Tens of Trillions... The Era of Physician-Scientists is Coming [Reading Science]'

Possessing Medical Knowledge, Clinical Experience, Basic Science, and R&D Skills
Emerging as a Solution for Infectious Disease Response, Bio Industry Revitalization, and STEM Talent Shortage
Major Countries Already Achieving Tens of Trillions in Bio Industry Including COVID-19 Vaccine Production
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Swept, Government Considering Specialized Workforce Training Centered on Science and Technology Universities

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] "If we succeed in training physician-scientists, which has been stagnant for decades, we can simultaneously tackle three challenges: infectious disease response, revitalization of the bio-industry, and the shortage of STEM talents."

Recently, in line with the trend of revitalizing the bio-industry due to periodic threats from infectious diseases like COVID-19 and population aging, the demand for training 'physician-scientists' has been increasing. Although Korea succeeded in K-quarantine, the delay in vaccine development is ultimately attributed to the shortage of R&D experts who possess a balanced combination of medical knowledge, clinical experience, and basic science research capabilities?namely, 'physician-scientists,' according to experts. In this era of great transformation where science and technology have become the only means to solve humanity's crises, it can also be an alternative to the current reality where top talents all enter medical schools dreaming only of private practice.

◇ Physician + Researcher = Physician-Scientist

Physician-scientists are classified into two types depending on their career: basic physician-scientists and clinical physician-scientists. Although the exact concept is not yet defined, researchers who have obtained a medical license (M.D.) and conduct medical-related research are classified as 'physician-scientists.' They are also called medical life scientists, medical scientists, or research physicians. Government ministries use varying definitions. The Ministry of Health and Welfare targets 'specialists or those with doctoral degrees' for related project support, the Ministry of Science and ICT defines them as clinical specialists who regularly see patients and participate in diagnosis, treatment, surgery, or procedures, and the Ministry of Education considers those with specialist certificates who have obtained or are expected to obtain a master's degree in medicine and have entered doctoral programs as physician-scientists.

These physician-scientists are emerging as essential talents in bio R&D such as vaccine and new drug development, as 'human-centered research' becomes central and the importance of 'translational research' is emphasized. Physician-scientists, equipped with medical knowledge, clinical experience, and basic science and R&D experience, serve as a bridge to apply ideas from basic research to specific patients. Through this, they enhance research efficiency and development speed while playing a significant role in improving the quality of medical care.

Choi Jae-young, Director of Medical Science Research at Yonsei Medical Center, explained on a YouTube broadcast, "The reason physician-scientists have become more active than basic medical Ph.D.s is that they know very specifically what is needed in hospital settings," adding, "They understand better than basic medical scientists what they should research, leading to excellent achievements."

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◇ Leading in Major Countries, Severely Lacking in Korea

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and the bio-industry revitalization due to population aging, the role of physician-scientists is increasingly important. Ugur Sahin, the developer of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine and founder of BioNTech, is a representative physician-scientist. Last year, he sold over 2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, earning a staggering net profit of 10 billion euros (about 13.4 trillion KRW). Recently, Nobel Prizes have been almost swept by such figures. Notable examples include Harvey Alter (M.D., USA), Michael Houghton (Ph.D., Canada), and Charles Rice (Ph.D., USA), who won the Nobel Prize in 2020 for their contribution to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Since 1964, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has operated the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), supporting about 4% of all medical students (43 universities nationwide, 170 students annually) with scholarships and research funds, producing 14 Nobel laureates from this program alone in the past 15 years.

In the UK, the 'MD-PhD Training Program' was established in 2015 for focused cultivation, and various training programs are operated through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Japan has also been striving to train medical scientists by establishing an MSTP course at Tokyo Medical University in 2008. According to 2020 statistics from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, over the past 25 years, 37% of Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine, 69% of NIH directors, and 70% of chief scientific officers (CSOs) of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies held MD degrees.

In contrast, Korea is currently severely lacking, which is cited as a major cause of the qualitative decline in bio R&D fields such as new drugs and vaccines. About 3,300 students graduate annually from Korean medical schools and medical graduate schools, but only about 30 specialize in basic medical sciences, accounting for just 1%. Even if they later obtain master's or doctoral degrees, 90% return to clinical practice. Although institutional improvements such as medical graduate schools and research-oriented hospitals have been attempted, they have failed. Medical graduates who choose to become physician-scientists balancing clinical work and research are treated as 'rare species.' Even in government-designated research-oriented hospitals, the proportion of physician researchers averages only 36% (as of 2018).

◇ Need for 'Disruptive Innovation'

The reasons for the failure to train physician-scientists include negative perceptions and culture toward research among doctors due to economic realities and lack of support measures. Doctors in the field face insufficient economic incentives and limited research funding, and even if willing, clinical doctors have little time to devote fully to research. Even if they become physician-scientists, it is currently difficult to secure research funding, making it hard to settle into the role.

Kim Ha-il, Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine at KAIST, pointed out, "If doctors' average income is about 200 million KRW, researchers receive about 100 million KRW on average," adding, "If at least about 150 million KRW were provided, more doctors would engage in research. The culture within doctors should also shift to encourage various choices beyond primary care physicians." He also raised the need for overall curriculum and educational reform, such as reorganizing major medical schools like Seoul National University and Yonsei University, which still focus solely on training primary care physicians, into research-centered medical schools like Stanford University in the U.S. Kim said, "Korean medicine has made tremendous leaps over the past 100 years but has focused only on clinical care," and added, "To become a truly advanced medical country, it is time for disruptive innovation to become a first mover, not just to catch up with countries like the U.S."

Meanwhile, the government recently held the first Physician-Scientist Training Council and began reviewing plans to establish medical science graduate schools at science and technology-specialized universities, such as KAIST and POSTECH, where existing research cultures are well established. Policies such as expanding and strengthening medical science graduate programs and granting military service exemptions are also being discussed.