Focus on the Necessity of Establishing 'POSTECH Research-Oriented Medical School' as a Priority Project in Pohang City

Securing Bio-Sovereignty Including Leading COVID-19 Vaccine Development, Pohang as the Optimal Site for Training 'Physician-Scientists'

Enough Reasons for Establishment: Resolving Medical School Concentration in Seoul Area and Improving Poor Local

As the expansion of medical school quotas emerges as a major issue, the justification and necessity of establishing a ‘research-oriented medical school’?which Pohang City in Gyeongbuk Province and POSTECH are prioritizing to promote the national bio-industry and improve regional medical conditions?are gaining attention.

Participants of the 'Pohang R&BD Institution Heads Council' held last October are shouting "Fighting" while urging the establishment of the 'Bio Patriotism Pohang, POSTECH Research-Oriented Medical School.'

Last month, the government announced the ‘Regional Comprehensive Essential Medical Innovation Strategy,’ which centers on expanding medical school quotas. In particular, President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that “medical personnel training should focus not only on clinical doctors but also on nurturing professionals in related medical science fields,” giving momentum to the establishment of medical graduate schools aimed at training physician-scientists.

In this regard, Pohang City revealed that since 2018, it has been working with POSTECH and Gyeongbuk Province to establish a research-oriented medical school and a smart hospital that align with the spirit of the times?fostering the biohealth industry, a national core industry, and improving the poor medical conditions in local areas.

The core goal is to present a new model of national balanced development through innovative biotechnology development by training physician-scientists and dramatically improving regional medical conditions. The plan includes establishing Korea’s first engineering-based research-oriented medical school (with an admission quota of 50 students and an 8-year education period) alongside introducing an advanced medical system with 500 beds to simultaneously operate a smart hospital that conducts clinical research and serves as a tertiary general hospital, which is currently absent in Gyeongbuk Province.

Furthermore, a mid- to long-term blueprint envisions building a full-cycle value chain equipped with a medical science convergence research center to conduct translational research with regional base hospitals and corporate research support facilities.

The ‘physician-scientists’ that POSTECH’s research-oriented medical school aims to train are researchers who integrate medicine and science. Rather than focusing on treatment, they investigate problems identified through clinical practice and produce outcomes that can be applied to patient care, drug development, and medical device innovation. Notably, this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to developers of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines who contributed to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, and about half of all past laureates have been physician-scientists.

In particular, the decisive factor in the COVID-19 vaccine race, where major advanced countries as well as China and Russia gained an advantage, was the difference in ‘physician-scientists.’ Their importance is further emphasized for establishing autonomous ‘health and medical sovereignty’ in the future.

Moreover, cities that have emerged as global biohealth clusters, such as Boston in the United States and Basel in Switzerland, also possess excellent research personnel?physician-scientists?and hospital infrastructure based on Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Basel.

However, only about 30 medical students in Korea are trained as physician-scientists annually, which is less than 1% of the total quota, a stark contrast to the 1,700 trained annually in the United States. Under the existing standardized clinical-centered system, overcoming this gap is difficult, and experts and Pohang City agree that establishing a ‘research-oriented medical school’ with a new curriculum integrating science and medicine is essential for sustainable physician-scientist training.

Above all, Pohang City’s world-class capabilities, competitiveness, and bio infrastructure prove it to be the optimal location for establishing a research-oriented medical school. Starting with POSTECH, which has world-class research capabilities, Pohang is home to Korea’s unique bio infrastructure, including the Accelerator Research Institute, Membrane Protein Research Center, Green Vaccine Demonstration Support Center, and Bio Open Innovation Center, making it the best place to nurture physician-scientists. The Pohang City Council also urged the government to actively support the establishment through a statement issued on the 19th of last month.

Additionally, the smart hospital planned to be established alongside the medical school is expected to play a role as a game changer in improving the poor local medical system. As of 2022, Gyeongbuk Province ranks 16th out of 17 cities and provinces in Korea, with only 1.4 doctors per 1,000 people, confirming its status as one of the lowest in medical conditions through various medical indicators.

Therefore, by establishing the smart hospital, it is expected to strengthen comprehensive medical networking through linkage with regional general hospitals and serve as a regional base tertiary general hospital, becoming a core axis for revolutionary medical improvements led by the region.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok emphasized, “The establishment of a research-oriented medical school is an urgent mission that will contribute to the innovation of Korea’s bio-industry beyond improving regional medical conditions,” adding, “We will gather the aspirations and all capabilities of local residents to realize the establishment of a research-oriented medical school, which is a key institution to achieve bio-national service beyond the traditional steel-national service.”