"Advisor's Habitual Assault" Revealed by Resident... Hospital Confirms as Fact

Confirmation of Assault at the Hospital
Resident's Affiliated Society "Plans Measures to Prevent Recurrence"

A captured image from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) showing a resident being assaulted by a supervising professor. [Photo source = online community 'BobaeDream']

As allegations of habitual assault by a supervising professor at a university hospital spread online, the hospital confirmed the assault and launched a fact-finding investigation.

A, who identified as a fourth-year neurosurgery resident at a university hospital in Gwangju, posted a message titled "Please help regarding habitual assault" on the online community 'Bobaedream' on the 20th.

In the post, A stated, "I have been continuously and habitually assaulted by my supervising professor," adding, "I was beaten with a metal pipe in places called separately, as well as in hospital corridors and in front of patients, and was slapped so hard that my glasses flew off." Among the three audio recordings he attached, there are sounds presumed to be from the assault along with a voice saying, "Hey! If you don’t get hit even once..."

A said, "After being punched in the abdomen, I had a persistent dry cough for a while, and when my wife worried about why I kept coughing, I pitifully lied that I had bumped into the hospital bed."

He continued, "Due to fear stemming from the difference in status between a resident receiving training and a supervising professor, and concern that causing trouble would harm my colleagues, I endured it," but confessed, "I realized that thinking I could just endure it alone was wrong."

He emphasized, "I do not believe that being humiliatingly beaten in front of patients, juniors, and hospital staff is necessary to provide better medical care," and added, "We must break this bad practice at least within my cohort so it does not continue to future residents." He also urged, "The professor should be dismissed to improve the training environment for junior residents."

Photo unrelated to the article content [Asia Economy DB]

On the 21st, the hospital confirmed the assault by the supervising professor through the Education and Training Committee and reported the matter to the university faculty personnel team responsible for disciplinary actions and the University Human Rights and Gender Equality Center in charge of the investigation.

Regarding the supervising professor, the hospital prohibited any contact with the victim resident until the disciplinary committee makes a decision and restricted all medical activities except scheduled outpatient care and surgeries. Attendance at neurosurgery academic meetings or conferences was also banned.

The Korean Neurosurgical Society also issued a statement on the same day under the name of Chairman Kwon Jeong-taek, stating, "We will organize an internal response team within the society to prevent recurrence of assault and verbal abuse against residents and prepare practical measures that residents can realistically access."

The society added, "We will monitor to ensure that the parties involved and junior residents do not suffer secondary damage within the hospital due to this incident," and said, "We will oversee the hospital’s objective investigation and related procedures regarding the offending specialist and devise countermeasures at the society level."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.