Gary Schwitzer, University of Minnesota associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, announced Friday morning via Twitter that he has resigned. Schwitzer said he decided to give up his tenured faculty position to focus more on âÄúhelping people understand health care issues.âÄù He has worked in health care journalism for 30 years as both a reporter and a professor. He is currently the publisher for HealthNewsReview.org, a site dedicated to the analysis of health-related reporting. He said he would like to devote more of his time to this project. âÄúI took a leave of absence this semester and it was the most professionally satisfying of my career,âÄù Schwitzer said in a Facebook video statement. âÄúI wrote more, traveled more, gave more talks and conducted more workshops than really IâÄôd ever done in one year prior.âÄù Citing its budget woes, Schwitzer said the University needs his salary and, with his commitments to HealthNewsReview.org and his blog, he could not devote even half the time to his professorship. He also said the health journalism program he helped begin has been placed on the shelf, âÄúso a return to the University just didnâÄôt make sense for me.âÄù Schwitzer worked as a television medical reporter for 14 years. He also was the first editor-in-chief of MayoClinic.com when it started in 2000.