Medical professors’ decision to tender resignations starting next week will lead to a massive medical vacuum next month, setting off a worst-case scenario where only nurses would be left to fill the void, according to experts on Tuesday.

The emergency committees of medical school professors at Seoul National University and Yonsei University announced late Monday that they would submit their resignation letters next Monday.

This follows Saturday’s announcement by the committee representing professors from 20 medical schools to submit their resignations autonomously starting the same day. The Medical Professors Association of Korea will also take the same action in protest of the government’s expansion plan.

Experts say the country will suffer from the fallout in late April when the resignations will be automatically accepted by hospitals a month after submission, even if hospitals refuse them.

Professors have also cited Article 660 of the Civil Code, which states that termination takes effect one month from the date the other party receives the notification of such.

Until then, medical professors said they will remain in their positions until their resignation is complete.

Lee Ju-yul, a professor at the Department of Health Administration at Namseoul University, said the medical sector will “pass the point of no return” in April if the government fails to come up with a solution that could ease professors’ grievances.

“Professors gave the government some sort of deadline to come up with a plan before next week because it will likely announce the allocation for the hike on Wednesday at the earliest,” Lee told The Korea Herald.

“Without compromising, general and university hospitals will be most affected by the move since medical professors are also physicians there,” the professor noted.

Jeong Hyoung-sun, a professor of health administration at Yonsei University, said that the professors’ exit will hit differently from the hospitals’ point of view.

“Hospitals would face immense burden, especially financially, because professors wouldn’t be able to provide medical services (to patients). A continued medical personnel shortage will only aggravate the struggle for both patients and hospitals,” he told The Korea Herald.

Amid the ongoing impasse, President Yoon Suk Yeol said during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting that medical licenses granted to doctors to save people’s lives shouldn’t be used as a tool against the people or cause anxiety.

“It’s truly unfortunate that some doctors, who are supposed to stand by the patient’s side and persuade trainee doctors (to return), are failing to fulfill their duties as doctors and teachers by neglecting the public’s desire for medical reform,” Yoon said.

Yoon added that a special presidential committee on medical reform would be launched next month to allow doctors to engage in talks with the government. He also said that he would host debates on medical reform in the form of the public policy debates he had held in the past.

Meanwhile, Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Association, on the same day filed a complaint against Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong and Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, accusing them of abusing power and exercising rights.