This farce in South Korea is essentially a contradiction and conflict between politicians for the sake of beautiful medical system data and doctors for their own interests.
Let's take a brief look at the experience.
As of 22:00 on the 21st, 9275 interns and residents have submitted resignation letters, representing 74 percent of these hospital groups4%；Of those, 8,024 left the workplace, or 64 of the total4 %。
After the strike wave, as of 18:00 on the 21st, a total of 57 new cases of damage were reported by the Doctors' Collective Action Damage Reporting and Support Center. There were 44 cases of delayed surgery, 6 cases of rejection**, 5 cases of appointment cancellation, and 2 cases of delayed hospitalization.
In addition, as of 18 o'clock on the 22nd, there have been about 1150,000 medical students applied for leave of absence, accounting for 61 percent of the total number of medical students1%。
The massive collective strike in South Korea stemmed from a plan to reform medical education.
On February 6, South Korea** announced a reforming plan for medical education:
Expand medical school enrollment from the current 3,058 to 5,058 students (+2,000, +65%) in the 2025 academic year, ultimately adding 15,000 doctors to South Korea by 2035.**The reason why we want to promote the expansion of medical student enrollment is to increase the number of doctors in the labor force to reverse the current shortage of doctors.
South Korea has 2. The number of doctors per 1,000 people is 26, which is lower than the OECD average of 3Level of 7 people.
The gap in key areas is also too large, and they are reluctant to go to remote areas such as farms.
The number of medical students enrolled in South Korea has remained unchanged at 3,058 per year for 18 years.
However, on the same issue, South Korean doctors think almost exactly the opposite.
Let's start with the slogans shouted by some doctors:
* The suppression of the fundamental rights of interns and residents has reached the point of losing their minds;
While the right to life is important, the fundamental right of doctors to freedom of professional choice should also be respected. In February, the dynamic incentive plan expansion will ruin the entire Korean medical system;
Rapidly increasing medical school enrollment will erode high-quality health care;
Koreans are victims of an unwarranted increase in the number of doctors;
Medical prisons are on the horizon. .
South Korean doctors believe that although the number of doctors per 1,000 population in South Korea is lower than the average, there is no shortage of doctors in South Korea. Even if the enrollment ceiling is not raised, South Korea will have a surplus of doctors due to negative population growth and rapid aging.
The main contradiction between doctors and ** is that ** does not have enough financial expenditure on medical care (unwilling to pay).
South Korea has universal health insurance, and the proportion of people who pay for medical treatment is very low. However, most of South Korea's medical insurance is financed by the insurance premiums paid by the people, and the subsidy accounts for less than 20%, and it has been in a state of loss.
In addition, public hospitals in South Korea account for only 10% of Korean hospitals, and 90% of hospitals are run by doctors or capitalists. Of course, private hospitals should first and foremost pursue profit.
But the biggest key points are:
Korean doctors are the absolute elite of South Korea, with an average income of 6 of the domestic wage earners8 times; If the group of doctors expands, the cake of vested interests will become smaller.
This is the biggest source of farce.
However, it is not once or twice that South Koreans have gone on medical strikes.
In 2020, a large-scale strike movement also broke out in the medical community in South Korea, when the country's medical system was reformed.
The three-day strike was organized by the Korean Medical Association (KMA) (with 130,000 members). They oppose** the goal of adding 4000 medical students over the next 10 years, with three-quarters of those doctors sent to rural areas for at least 10 years.
However, at that time, the epidemic happened, and South Korea** was worried that the doctor's strike at this stall would cause a shortage of medical care, and finally withdrew the plan.
But this time it is different, South Korea** is extremely tough, saying that the expansion of medical students this time is irreversible, and if doctors really do this (referring to collective resignation), they will be severely punished, including the revocation of medical licenses.
Well, sit back and wait for the melon.