Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine of Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital has its roots in Internal Medicine 1 of the Seoul National University Medical College Internal Medicine Department. This department was established in 1946 by merging the Department of Internal Medicine of Kyungsung Imperial University and the Department of Internal Medicine of Kyungsung Medical College.
The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital specializes in diagnosing and treating various lung diseases. These include infectious lung diseases such as pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary diseases, and COVID-19; chronic airway diseases such as COPD and bronchiectasis; interstitial lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; pulmonary vascular diseases such as pulmonary embolism and pulmonary hypertension; pleural diseases such as pneumothorax and pleural effusion; lung cancer; and sleep medicine. Additionally, the Division plays a crucial role in critical care medicine by providing care to patients in the medical intensive care unit. It also manages the screening and care of patients requiring lung transplantation due to severe respiratory diseases.
The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine operates a bronchoscopy room and a pulmonary function test room, providing service to both outpatients and patients in the ward and intensive care unit. In addition to bronchoscopies for diagnosis, various therapeutic interventions, thoracic ultrasounds, and medical thoracoscopies are actively performed in the bronchoscopy room.
The Division offers various educational programs such as biweekly pulmonary group meetings for medical students, Tuesday afternoon lung cancer group meetings, Wednesday evening conference for the latest information in the field of respiratory medicine, Friday morning journal club for clinical papers, and multidisciplinary interstitial lung disease meetings every other Friday afternoons. The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine is a popular destination for residents and students from Korea and other countries for educational purposes.