It's actually funny in a meta way. He was ahead of the other two candidates and had everything going for him. But the sole reason why he lost it all in the end was the fact that his ongoing problem of failing to understand people and setting them aside for his goals so this chapter is a big revelation to him that his failure to communicate or even remember people is proven fatal and too late to fix.
Also the doctors asking for another surgeon when they're already in a major surgery sounds unreasonable so Kunitachi is the only one available. To put that against him is unfair and inefficient, you have to gown up again and waste more time transitioning from one case to another. Kunitachi might be selfish that he wants to save his own kid but you can't expect him to make these decisions when he's emotionally vulnerable. Then again, he's suppose to be a professor candidate so he needs to make rational decisions even under duress as a leader. I can see why they look down on him considering he doesn't even remember his supporters but at the same time he's only human and he's failed his major surgery, son committed suicide and he's losing his candidacy.