Four medical professors at Seoul National University(SNU) will leave hospitals next month in protest of the government's medical reform policies.

Bang Jae-seung, head of an emergency committee representing SNU medical professors, said on Wednesday that the four professors who will step down from May 1 are leading members of the committee.

Bang said all four professors who practice essential medicine have decided to tender their resignations after realizing it is meaningless to see patients when the nation's medical system is on the verge of collapse.

The interim chief said the medical system will begin to crumble in May, unless trainee doctors and medical students participating in a collective action in protest of the government's medical school admissions hike decide to return to their duties.

Meanwhile, SNU medical professors are set to suspend patient consultations with the exception of services for emergency and critical patients next Tuesday to physically and mentally recover from working extended hours amid the prolonged medical vacuum.