Successful Hosting of the 4th Korea-US Seminar on 'Training Physician-Scientists'

The 4th regular seminar of the Korea Future Medical Innovation Research Association (hereinafter ‘Hanmiyeon’) was successfully held on the 16th at the Glad Hotel in Yeouido. Hanmiyeon is a research association formed by experts from various fields of the medical field, positioning itself as a think tank that researches and proposes future medical innovation policies to enhance Korea’s medical competitiveness and future value.

Previously, at the 1st seminar held in April, Hanmiyeon proposed policies related to the training of physician-scientists under the theme of ‘Overall Healthcare 4.0 Medical System.’ The 2nd seminar in June dealt with ‘Digital Healthcare Technology Innovation’ and held in-depth discussions related to digital healthcare. The 3rd seminar presented issues and improvement directions of regional healthcare under the theme of ‘Direction of Regional Medical Innovation,’ and at this 4th seminar, experts from various fields gathered to discuss ‘Training Physician-Scientists for the Future of Korea’s Medical Industry.’

At the seminar, Kang Daehee, president of the Telemedicine Society and co-representative of Hanmiyeon, and Lim Jong-yoon, an internal director of Hanmi Pharm, attended, along with Lee Kangdeok, CEO of KBS N, and Hwang Mansun, CEO of Korea Investment Partners. Also present were Lee Jinwoo, president of the Korean Medical Association, and Jang Sanggil, vice mayor of Pohang City, who showed deep interest in the training of physician-scientists.

Lee Jinwoo, president of the Korean Medical Association, said in his congratulatory speech, “I ask Hanmiyeon to provide much help in the process of medical system reform through the ruling and opposition parliamentary consultative body or the Special Committee on Medical Reform,” and added, “The future society will be led by the healthcare industry, and in such an environment, I promise to work together with Hanmiyeon to consider what roles physician-scientists should play and how to nurture them.”

Jang Sanggil, vice mayor of Pohang City, emphasized, “We have realized the importance of physician-scientists during the COVID-19 vaccine development process, and the training of physician-scientists proposed by Hanmiyeon is extremely urgent and important from a national perspective,” and added, “Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has considerable capabilities in biotechnology, and we are promoting the establishment of a medical school as a long-cherished project of Pohang City to train physician-scientists who can serve as a bridge between clinical practice and medical science.”

In the first session of the seminar, Kim Jongil, head of the Convergent Physician-Scientist Training Project Group at Seoul National University College of Medicine, introduced domestic and international physician-scientist training projects under the theme ‘Current Status and Prospects of Domestic and International Physician-Scientist Training Projects,’ emphasizing the role of universities. In the second session, Song Minkyo, a researcher at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, introduced the advanced physician-scientist support system in the U.S. under the theme ‘Experience of Korean-American Physician-Scientists.’

The subsequent panel discussion was moderated by co-representative Kang Daehee and attended by Professor Kim Jongil, Professor Kim Youngjoo of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, researcher Song Minkyo, Dean Yoo Kyungho of Hallym University College of Medicine, and Professor Kim Cheolhong of POSTECH. The discussion exchanged opinions on the problems and solutions of the domestic physician-scientist training system and the importance of support policies. They stressed the urgent need for a change in awareness, systematization of university education systems, and government support for advanced physician-scientist training, and agreed to unite efforts for cooperation among the government, academia, and hospitals.

Co-representative Lim Jong-yoon stated, “I believe that companies bear a significant responsibility for the relatively low capital investment in domestic medical science, and biopharmaceutical companies need to make more efforts to create a national environment for training physician-scientists,” and added, “I hope the university education system will shift from artificially training physician-scientists to naturally nurturing Korean-style physician-scientists through medical science programs.”

Han Seongjun, chairman of Hanmiyeon’s operating committee and CEO of Core Group as well as CTO of DXVX, said, “We plan to concretize the agenda derived from the four seminars on future medical innovation policies to a level that can be proposed as government policy and publish a policy proposal document by the end of the year.”

The 5th seminar, to be held on December 18 in the conference room of the National Assembly Members’ Office Building, will look back on the medical crisis of 2024 and take time to envision the future under the theme ‘Where is Korea’s Medical Industry Heading?’