Seoul St. Mary's trains residents in pneumoconiosis care at Korea's last coal mine

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital conducted hands-on training for medical residents on pneumoconiosis in Dogye-eup, Samcheok, Gangwon Province — home to Korea's last operating coal mine. The program takes occupational disease education beyond the textbook and into the field where the risks are most acute.

Nine medical staff members visited the coal mine in Dogye-eup on Aug. 11, the hospital announced Friday. The group included professors Myung Jun-pyo, Kang Mo-yeol, Lee Jong-in and Park Min-young from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, clinical instructor Kim Seo-young, and residents Kwon O-hwi, Kim Hyo-jeong, Lee Chan-young and Kim Dong-geun.

The visit was organized to assess the health of workers exposed to occupational diseases in harsh working conditions. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, which opened Korea's first occupational health institution in the 1960s, conducts such field visits on a regular basis.

Particularly notable this time was the participation of four occupational and environmental medicine residents. The aim was to deepen their understanding of pneumoconiosis patients and to give them direct exposure to the link between actual working conditions and occupational disease. The visit was part of a field training program the hospital has run for more than 20 years — the only such program among resident training hospitals in Korea that offers specialized pneumoconiosis treatment.

The medical team held a health lecture for pneumoconiosis patients and their families, then ventured into the mine's deepest working face — the point where coal is actually extracted. The residents descended to the end of the tunnel and experienced firsthand the lives of miners who dig and haul coal, seeing with their own eyes the harsh conditions that cause pneumoconiosis.

"I thought I understood pneumoconiosis and its causes through seeing patients in the clinic and studying the theory," resident Kim Dong-geun said. "But descending all the way to the working face and experiencing the harmful factors — coal dust and the rest — with my own body was an entirely different thing. I think that day will have a strong influence on how I care for patients."

Though the decline of the coal industry has made pneumoconiosis something of a forgotten disease, it still accounts for the largest share of occupational disease deaths. According to industrial accident statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2024, there were about 20,000 pneumoconiosis patients and 506 pneumoconiosis-related deaths that year.

"Residents need to experience both the patient's bedside and the worksite to give their whole heart to patient care and to make informed decisions when assessing industrial accident claims," said Professor Myung. "Even after the mine closes next year, we will continue to visit worksites consistently and look after the health of pneumoconiosis patients."

He added that early diagnosis and consistent management allow patients to maintain a healthy daily routine, but that many die prematurely after going without follow-up care. "Appropriate treatment is critical," he said.

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital's Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine established Korea's first occupational health institution, the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center, in 1962. It opened an occupational disease clinic in 1965 and was designated a WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational Health in 1973.

The department has long devoted itself to the diagnosis, compensation and prevention of occupational and environmental respiratory diseases, including asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, pulmonary fibrosis and pneumoconiosis.