An Interview with Professor Young-Mee Lee, Awardee of the 14th Medical Education Innovation Award from the Korean Association of Medical Colleges

This article presents an interview with Professor Young-Mee Lee of Korea University College of Medicine, who is the recipient of the 14th Medical Education Innovation Award from the Korean Association of Medical Colleges. In the interview, Professor Lee shared her perspectives on three key issues in contemporary Korean medical education: the essential qualities of medical students in a changing healthcare environment, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical education and its implications for the essence of physicians, and the educational significance of Korea’s combined six-year medical curriculum. First, Professor Lee identified humility and the capacity for self-directed learning as core qualities required of medical students, framing professionalism as a foundational concept in medical training. Second, she addressed medical AI education by outlining six core competency domains and emphasized that critical reasoning remains a uniquely human capacity that cannot be replaced by technological advances. Third, Professor Lee advocated for the combined six-year medical curriculum, characterizing it not as a simple extension of training time but as a structure that enables continuous self-reflection and intentional student development. Beyond issues of curricular design, she argued that meaningful innovation in medical education requires the restoration of trust among faculty, students, and society. Finally, she encouraged young physicians to first cultivate professional expertise within their current roles before expanding their involvement into the field of medical education.