There are no apparent signs of the nation's medical professors at the "Big Five" general hospitals in Seoul walking off their jobs, even though the resignations they tendered on March 25 take effect on Thursday.

According to the medical community, no requests have been made at the "Big Five" hospitals to adjust scheduled surgeries or outpatient consultations due to resignations. Most of the professors that tendered their resignations have reportedly remained on the job.

However, the scale of the situation is not yet clear, as professors submitted their resignations on different dates starting March 25 and some have reportedly expressed a wish to hold off their resignations until their patients are transferred to other hospitals.

In other cases, professors' resignations have reportedly been withheld by their interim leadership or university presidents.

The emergency committee of professors at Sungkyunkwan University said resignations tendered by its members are set to take effect next Wednesday, while those at the University of Ulsan said its professors are expected to leave after next Tuesday.

The health ministry, for its part, does not expect an exodus of professors as many have not submitted resignations to their affiliated universities, which is a necessary step in many cases.