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Il-Hak Lee

Yonsei University · Medicine

About the Lab

Professor Il-Hak Lee's research lab specializes in end-of-life care, advance care planning, and bioethics, with a strong focus on ethical decision-making in healthcare. The lab investigates advance directives, advance care planning, and the ethical challenges in end-of-life care, particularly in the context of aging populations and public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It also explores the institutionalization of clinical ethics services, including ethics committees and palliative care policies, with an emphasis on improving healthcare equity, patient autonomy, and systemic governance in medical decision-making.

advance directivesend-of-life carebioethicspalliative carehealthcare ethics

Research Overview

Papers
86
Total Citations
374
Papers (5y)
27
Primary Field
Medicine

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
27total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
55total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Book Chapter|35 citations·2015
Filial Duty as the Moral Foundation of Caring for the Elderly: Its Possibility and Limitations
Ilhak Lee
Philosophy and medicine
Clinical PsychologyPsychology
2
Article|10 citations·2020
COVID-19 대유행과 그 대응: 분배정의론이 해결할 과제들
이일학
http://www.nibp.kr/xe/re_ex/210375

COVID-19 대유행은 안온해 보이는 우리의 일상생활이 실제로는 불안한 기초 위에 구축되어 있음을 드러냈다. 본 논문은 2022년 하반기까지 향후 12~24개월간 COVID-19 대유행이 지속할 것으로 가정하고 장기적인 유행 상태로 보건의료자원의 재편이 필요한 상황에서 고려해야 할 분배정의의 문제들을 검토하고 이를 통해 앞으로 그 발생이 증가할 것으로 예상되는 신종/재출현 감염병(newly emerging and reemerging disease)에 대비한 보건 대책에 대한 보건의료체계 구축과정에서 해결할 문제를 분배정의의 관점에서 제시하는 것을 목표로 한다. 이를 위해 코로나 19 유행 과정에서 제기된 COVID-19 환자 사이의 분배정의, COVID-19 환자와 비COVID-19 환자 사이의 분배정의, 백신 분배의 우선순위, 사회적 거리두기로 인한 비용의 분담, 감염병 사전주의 원칙에 따른 기회비용의 부담 등의 정의 문제를 살펴보았으며, 마지막으로 자원제공에 제한을 두는 정책의

3
Article|10 citations·2022
Factors Associated with Advance Directives Documentation: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey of Older Adults in Korea
Boram Kim, Jiyeon Choi, Ilhak Lee
SJR Q2International Journal of Environmental Research and Public HealthOA

Advance directives (ADs) can support autonomy in making healthcare decisions and minimize unnecessary discomfort during the treatment process at the end of life (EOL). This study aimed to investigate the factors that influence AD documentation among community-dwelling older adults. We used data from the National Survey of Older Koreans which was conducted nationwide in 2020. Data from participants aged 65 years or older were extracted using stratified multistage cluster sampling and the survey w

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
4
Article|9 citations·2017
연명의료결정법과 임상윤리서비스
이일학
생명윤리

호스피스-완화의료 및 임종과정에 있는 환자의 연명의료에 관한 법률(연명의료결정법)은 의료기관 내에 연명의료결정에 관련하여 자문과 상담을 제공하는 의료기관윤리위원회 구성을 요구한다. 윤리자문이 제도화된다는 큰 변화에 비하면 연구는 아직 미진한 편이다. 본 논문은 임상윤리가 자문과 상담을 넘어 좀더 포괄적인 개념인 임상윤리서비스의 개념으로 발전해야 함을 강조한다. 임상윤리서비스는 윤리학, 법학, 종교학을 포함한 다양한 분야의 전문성을 갖추어 의료기관 내에서 제공되는 서비스의 하나다. 윤리적 가치문제를 내포한 임상적 판단 과정에서 의료인과 환자를 지원하여 합리적 판단과 결정이 가능하도록 상담과 자문을 지원하며 의료 서비스의 윤리성을 제고하고 기관 구성원의 도덕적 갈등과 고뇌를 해소하기 위해 의료기관 성원의 교육과 상담을 제공한다. 이 서비스에는 대화, 공식적 상담, 전문가적 자문, 위원회 심의 및 관련 법률에 따라 의료기관이 제공해야 하는 연명의료관련 상담 등이 포함되는 것으로 정의할 수

5
Article|7 citations·2023
“The communication I had with him back then is still stuck in my mind.” Bereaved families of cancer patients’ experiences for end-of-life communication
Heejung Jeon, Sanghee Kim, Ilhak Lee
SJR Q1Supportive Care in CancerOA

PURPOSE: Communication with family members is important to end-of-life care for patients with cancer. It is an interactive engagement between terminally-ill cancer patients and their families through which they expand their mutual understanding to cope with losses and find meaning in death. This study aimed to describe the experiences of end-of-life communication between patients with cancer and their family members in South Korea. METHODS: This is a qualitative descriptive study using in-depth

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
6
Book Chapter|7 citations·2023
South Korea’s End-of-Life Care Decisions Act: Law for Better End-of-Life Care
Ilhak Lee
Cambridge University Press eBooksOA

Despite a broad consensus that terminally ill patients should be empowered to choose and deny life-sustaining-treatments (LSTs), South Korea’s path towards the regulation of advance directives was not easy. In this chapter, I sketch the development of social and legal discourse regarding advance directives, from the 1998 Boramae Hospital case to the current Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life (ELDA). I show how ELDA has re

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
7
Article|6 citations·2023
Public perceptions and attitudes of the national project of bio-big data: A nationwide survey in the Republic of Korea
Ji Hyun Yang, Hannah Kim, Ilhak Lee
SJR Q2Frontiers in GeneticsOA

Background: The National Project of Bio-Big Data (NPBBD) is a South Korean bio-big data collection project, expected to include health, genomic, and lifelog data of one million Koreans. The Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications study is a parallel study active since 2020. As part of the study, a public survey was conducted to evaluate public attitudes towards engagement schemes, such as public committees and web portals for communication between the public and researchers. Methods: An online s

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
8
Article|6 citations·2014
Medical Ethics Education: Its Objectives and Curriculum
Ilhak Lee
Korean Medical Education ReviewOA

Medical ethics has been integrated into the curriculum for medical education in Korea for over 30 years now. There have been many attempts to establish standards for the educational objectives and curriculum, including establishing learning outcomes and publishing medical ethics textbooks in Korean. However, this task is not easy for several reasons: the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, educators’ lack of experience, and the lack of a consensus on the criteria that would be effective edu

General Health ProfessionsHealth Professions
9
Article|5 citations·2021
COVID-19 Pandemic, Transparency, and “Polidemic” in the Republic of Korea
Cheol‐In Kang, Ilhak Lee
SJR Q1Asian Bioethics ReviewOA

This article examines the development of the Republic of Korea's strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 with particular focus on ethical issues and the problem of politicization of public communication. Using prominent examples of stakeholders who have acted and expressed themselves in highly contradictory ways on the topic of the pandemic, we provide an analysis of how the public health policy discourse has entered into the realm of politicization and elaborate on the danger that this pheno

General Health ProfessionsHealth Professions
10
Article|5 citations·2014
의료윤리교육의 목적 및 과정에 대한 고찰
이일학

Medical ethics has been integrated into the curriculum for medical education in Korea for over 30 years now. There have been many attempts to establish standards for the educational objectives and curriculum, including establishing learning outcomes and publishing medical ethics textbooks in Korean. However, this task is not easy for several reasons: the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, educators’ lack of experience, and the lack of a consensus on the criteria that would be effective edu

11
Article|4 citations·2024
Amendment Proposals for the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment to Improve End-of-Life Care
Ilhak Lee, Hyoung Wook Park, Younsuck Koh, DaeKyun Kim, Min Sun Kim, Sanghee Kim, Claire Junga Kim, Cho Hee Kim, Jae Young Moon, Sujin Baik, Seyoung Seo, In Gyu Song
Korean Journal of Medical EthicsOA

The Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life (ELDA) was passed by the Korean National Assembly in 2016 and came into effect in 2018. Although the stated purpose of the act is to uphold patient autonomy and dignity in the context of end-of-life (EOL) care, its utilization remains low, with only some 40% of EOL decisions reflecting patients’ direct opinions. This study aims to pinpoint areas for enhancing ELDA by comparing it wit

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
12
Article|4 citations·2010
의료윤리 의사결정 방법론으로써 결의론의 가능성
이일학
한국의료윤리학회지

In this article casuistical deliberation is explained and examined in regards to whether or not it is suitable for clinical ethics deliberation. Casuistry is the analysis of moral issues using reasoning based on paradigms and analogies. Such case-based reasoning leads to the formation of expert opinions about moral obligations that are general but not universal or invariable. Casuists try to give guidance in cases in which no clear ethical principles can be applied and to categorize cases into p

13
Article|3 citations·2024
Organ Donation and Transplantation Coordinators' Experience and needs for ethics education
Jayoung You, Myoung Soo Kim, Sunyoung Son, Ilhak Lee
SJR Q1Nursing Ethics

BACKGROUND: Transplant coordinators face ethical conflicts in various situations, such as deciding who should receive organ donations and how to consider patient costs and such conflicts are expected to be more frequent in Korea, as organ transplant coordinators in the country perform both organ acquisition and transplantation. RESEARCH AIM: This study aims to develop an ethics education program to enhance organ transplant coordinators' ethical competence and address the ethical conflicts faced

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthMedicine
14
Article|3 citations·2025
Development of a Medical AI Ethics Education Module Reflecting AI Competency Framework for Medical Students
Ilhak Lee, Young‐Mee Lee
Korean Medical Education ReviewOA

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies advance and become increasingly integrated into medicine and healthcare services, there is a growing consensus that it is necessary to prepare medical students to understand and utilize AI in medical education. Research and discussions are ongoing regarding the AI competencies that healthcare professionals should have. There are diverse opinions on how to integrate the necessary AI competencies for medical graduates into existing curricula. However, w

Health InformaticsMedicine
15
Article|3 citations·2017
규제에서 소통으로: 국가생명윤리심의위원회의 변화에 관한 제언
이일학
http://www.nibp.kr/xe/re_ex/93328

국가생명윤리심의위원회는 생명과학연구 분야의 거버넌스 일환으로 「생명윤리 및 안전에 관한 법률」에 의거하여 운영되고 있다. 법률 규정상 생명과학 연구 외에도 위원회의 판단에 의해 심의 대상을 결정할 수 있으나, 지금까지 국가생명윤리심의위원회는 배아연구, 유전자관련 연구의 허용 여부 결정이 주된 기능이었다. 법률의 규정이 구체적인 상황에서 국가생명윤리심의위원회의 심의 기능은 축소되었고 현재 국가생명윤리심의위원회는, 논쟁의 여지가 있으나, 그 기능이 축소된 상황이다. 본 논문은 국가생명윤리심의위원회의 기능이 구체적인 사안을 심의하는 데서 다양한 가능성을 검토, 최선의 대안을 탐색하는 한편 이 과정에서 시민의 참여를 보장하는 것으로 옮겨져야 한다고 주장한다. 이를 위해 현행 「생명윤리 및 안전에 관한 법률」의 규정과 외국의 국가생명윤리위원회 제도를 검토하여 현재 우리 체계를 다른 시각에서 살펴보았다. 우리 사회가 생명과학기술을 받아들이는 윤리적 규범이 변화함에 따라 국가생명윤리심의위원회의

Research Areas

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthGeneral Health ProfessionsPhysiologyClinical PsychologyPediatrics, Perinatology and Child HealthHealth Informatics

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