1. What was your reason for attending
medical school? Why did you want to become a physician?
- I was attracted to the field of
Medicine because I wanted to help bring about positive impacts on the lives of
people, especially concerning the quality of healthcare. My father, a brilliant
physician as well as a great role model, was certainly the biggest influence in
my decision to pursue medicine. Over the years, I watched my father serving the
community through his medical practice, taking care of patients and people
suffering from illnesses. I wanted to touch other’s life in the same way he
did. I never felt pressured to follow his paths; rather, my parents wanted us
to find our own passion. My two siblings found their passion in their own field
of choice, and I eventually found medicine as my life’s work after considering
a few different paths.
2. As a physician, you may have gone
through various obstacles; can you share some of the most difficult moments
during your career?
- Attending the medical school and training
to become a physician requires commitment and dedication. It’s not different
from other professions that demand years of learning. It takes discipline, hard
work and perseverance to be the best doctor one can be. During the four years
of medical school, I rigorously absorbed and mastered many different skills and
knowledge, after which, I was ready to interact with patients. During the
medical residency, I realized that finding compassion and ways to truly care
for a patient are not something you learn overnight. It is a life-long process;
it does not stop after medical school.
3. You’ve been appointed as the
Chairman of the Weill Cornell Medicine and Physician-in-Chief for New York
Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. What are your responsibilities
and principles of leading one of the most comprehensive academic and clinical
departments in the country where physicians and research scientists focused on
clinical care, research and medical education?
- The department of medicine is
usually the largest unit in a medical school. Cornell is no exception. Weill
Cornell Medicine is comprised of 16 divisions and more than 1,700 faculty
members, physicians and research scientists focused on clinical care, research
and medical education. Ever since I took the position as a chairman and
physician–in-chief, I have directed and supervised clinical activities
performed by each division. The Weill Cornell medicine covers wide variety of
clinical services, including cardiology, clinical epidemiology, clinical
pharmacology, emergency medicine, internal medicine and many more. It is also a
home to more than 200 residents and fellows. It is also my responsibility to
oversee medical education of the next generation of physicians[1]
and researchers. Speaking of research, one of my most important duties is
shaping research landscape of the department. The Weill Cornell medicine is a
hub for innovative biomedical research and clinical care, and it has a
longstanding tradition of excellence. Though I am kept very busy due to various
tasks at hand, it has been more than rewarding to participate in many successes
the Weill Cornell medicine yielded over the years.
4. What are some of the major
performances and outcomes you have accomplished under your leadership? What are
the long-term goals and visions you hope to see the Weill Cornell Medicine to
achieve?
- The Weill Cornell Medicine has
three major missions: clinical care, medical education and research. For
clinical care, I am proud to say that we are fortunate to host some of the best
physicians in the world. What we offer doesn’t stop with innovative and top of
the line clinical techniques; it also includes intimate and compassionate care
for our patients who need as much emotional support as clinical treatment. In
medical education, we continue to train our medical students, residents and
fellows to reach their full potential as doctors or researchers. In research,
we have enriched our research portfolio and increased grant funding on many
different areas including cancer, cardiovascular[2]
diseases, pulmonary diseases and herpetology at the Weill Cornell medicine.
Personally, as a pulmonologist, I study chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). COPD is third leading cause of death in the United States following
cancer and cardio vascular diseases. Despite the common perception, COPD does
not develop from smoking in every case, non-smokers also develop COPD. There is
no ultimate cure at this point, and current treatments have much room for
improvement and continuing optimization. My research is to better understand
the mechanism of COPD and to develop molecular targets for both diagnostics and
therapeutics.
5. In the biomedical research, what
are some significant changes or trends you have noticed in biomedical industry?
What do you forecast the industry will be like in the next five years?
- In the foreseeable future,
biomedical research will empathize on translational research. The field will
explore to find innovative methods of diagnostics and therapeutics. The
objective is to utilize available technology to diagnose as early as possible
in diseases process. It will allow doctors to intervene and treat patients in
the earlier stages of diseases, which can increase effectively the success rate
of the treatment. Secondly, National Institute of Health (NIH) funding has been
decreasing throughout last decade. From 2003 to 2015, NIH lost 22% of its
capacity to fund research due to budget cuts, sequestration, and inflationary
losses. It means that biomedical research will not be able to rely solely on federal
government funding. Importance of private sector funding will be inevitably
amplified as result.
6. What would be your advice or
comments for current medical students as well as those who aspire to become a
doctor?
- The field of medicine can be a fulfilling
career path for anyone because of its versatility. There are three major
sectors in medicine: research, medical education, and clinical care. These
three pillars of medical science cannot exist without the other. Regardless of
one’s choice to focus more on one over the others, the knowledge and experience
one gain from any of these medical fields can be enormously helpful as you
learn and practice medicine anywhere in the world. There are an infinite number
of career paths to choose from; and in that search, the idea is to find and
pursue what fits best your personality and aptitude. Medicine is definitely a
rewarding and noble career for young people to explore given it has a wide and
significant impact on the lives of many people, locally as well as globally.
From an orthodontist to a heart surgeon, different professions of medicine all
require different sets of skills and talents.
7. WKMJ has readers from more than
10 countries globally. Please share your words or thoughts with our readers.
- We are at the most exciting era of
biomedical research. New discoveries are rapidly being made in both diagnostics
and therapeutics. New approaches such as stem cell research and Nano-technology
are opening new doors righto possibilities of treatments previously thought
otherwise. I’m optimistic about the future of medicine as we work together with
fellow researchers and physicians around the globe, so we may move forward,
expand our horizon and push our limits in caring for our communities.
Augustine M.K. Choi, MD
Chairman, Department of Medicine at
Weill Cornell Medical College
Physician-in-Chief, New York
Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
Dr. Augustine M. K. Choi has been appointed chairman of the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and physician-in-chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Choi is the Parker B. Francis Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi is a clinician-scientist with expertise in the pathology and biology of lung disease. After receiving his medical degree from University of Louisville, Dr. Choi served as an intern, resident and assistant chief resident in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He then completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital as chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 2007, Dr. Choi served on the faculty and medical staff of Johns Hopkins, Yale University and University of Pittsburgh, where he served as chief of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine. Dr. Choi has authored more than 235 peer-reviewed manuscripts and serves as the Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.