Ten days after South Korea** announced that it would expand the enrollment of new medical students from the 2025 academic year, interns and residents at five major hospitals in the capital area of South Korea made a collective resignation decision to oppose the expansion of medical school enrollment in the first place.
According to Xinhua News Agency, on February 16, local time, the Korean Association of Interns and Resident Doctors in South Korea said that after consultation with the representatives of doctors from the five major hospitals in the capital area, it was decided that the interns and residents of these hospitals would collectively submit their resignation reports before the 19th and stop working from 6 o'clock on the 20th.
South Korea** has indicated that collective action by the medical profession will be severely punished, with possible measures including the revocation of medical licenses. Therefore, if doctors really take collective action, the contradiction between the medical profession and ** will be further intensified.
February 6 is the day of the death declaration of Korean medical care."
The moment I heard the news that South Korea plans to expand its enrollment of 2,000 medical students, my heart sank. February 6 is the day of the death declaration of Korean medical care."Kim Taek-woo, president of the Gangwon Provincial Medical Association, said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, on February 6, local time, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education of South Korea announced that they will expand the enrollment of new medical students from the 2025 academic year college entrance examination, and the scale will increase from the current 3,058 to 5,058, an increase of about 65%, which is the first time in 27 years that South Korea has expanded the enrollment scale of medical schools.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) cited the expansion as a reason for the expansion of medical institutions, which is mainly due to the shortage of doctors due to the difficulties in primary care and the collapse of the local healthcare system, and that the new enrollment places will be allocated to medical schools in non-metropolitan areas.
But the news of the expansion of the medical school has caused an uproar among physician groups such as the Korean Medical Association, who have expressed strong opposition to the expansion policy. On February 15, local time, the Korean Medical Doctor Association said that it held rallies across the country centered on its 16 municipal doctors' associations, and hundreds of doctors, interns and medical students took to the streets to demand the withdrawal of the enrollment expansion plan.
They held banners with the words "Oppose the expansion of medical student enrollment," "Blind expansion of medical schools will lead to the collapse of quality medical services," and "Unprepared basic policies are the end of the medical system."
On February 15, 2024 local time, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, doctors from the local medical association held a gown-undressing event, urging South Korea to cancel the policy of expanding the enrollment of medical schools. Figure ic photo
In the eyes of doctors in the ** enrollment expansion policy, the most important thing is not the number of doctors, but the policy issue. Lee Jong-bok, president of the Wonju Medical Association, believes that the lack of doctors in the pediatric and adolescent department or outside the Seoul circle is not a problem of the number of doctors, but a problem of medical policies, systems, and the distribution of doctors, according to the report of "Han Nation**".
It is not that the number of doctors is small, but that the salaries are ridiculously low, and there are concerns about criminal penalties and other reasons, that doctors tend to avoid obstetrics, gynecology and surgery. More than 10 doctors affiliated with the Daejeon City Medical Association shouted in front of the Daejeon City Party Headquarters, the ruling National Power Party.
The Korean Medical Association stressed that increasing the number of medical students could adversely affect the quality of education and training, and that instead of expecting a trickle-down effect of the expansion in 10 or 15 years, it would be better to sincerely participate in the discussion of saving the basic medical system that is collapsing.
According to the Xinhua news agency, some critics have also pointed out that medical professionals are actually worried that the expansion plan will lead to a decrease in their income.
On the second day of the rally, interns and residents at five major hospitals in the metropolitan area of South Korea decided to resign en masse to oppose the expansion of medical school enrollment.
The five major hospitals in the metropolitan area are Seoul National University Hospital, Yonsei University Severance Hospital, Samsung Seoul Hospital, Seoul Asan Hospital, and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.
All interns and residents in each hospital will submit their resignation reports by the 19th of this month and will not work from 6 a.m. on the 20th. Yonhap News Agency pointed out that interns and resident doctors are the main force on duty in the emergency department, and the medical vacancies caused by their collective resignation are inevitable, which may cause great inconvenience to patients.
The Association of Oriental Medicine is considering taking countermeasures in accordance with the law.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that South Korea has clashed with the Korean medical community over the expansion of medical school enrollment.
In July 2020, then-Moon Jae-in** announced that the country planned to increase the annual enrollment of 3,058 students at the medical school by about 400 over the next 10 years, while rewarding students majoring in lower-paying majors such as epidemiology and those who volunteered to work in public health in rural areas.
The measure was criticized by South Korean medical circles as a "hasty unilateral decision" that could provoke undesirable competition. Subsequently, the Korean Medical Association led a nationwide collective strike of doctors. In the end, South Korea** and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea reached an agreement with the medical community on the policy of expanding public medical resources, and stopped promoting the policy of expanding the enrollment of medical colleges and adding public medical universities.
However, from the current point of view, in the face of this opposition from the medical community, Yoon Suk-yeol ** has no intention of compromising. In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, a person from the South Korean Office said that all feasible measures will be taken to protect the health and lives of the people. Regarding the expansion of the enrollment of 2,000 medical students, the person stressed that there is no room for adjustment.
On February 15, 2024 local time, in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, members of local medical associations gathered to oppose the implementation of the medical school expansion policy. Figure ic photo
After interns and residents at the five major hospitals in the metropolitan area of South Korea decided to resign en masse, medical students also took action. According to the Korean Medical University and Medical Research Institute Student Association in South Korea, students from 40 medical universities across the country will collectively apply for suspension on the 20th.
Under these circumstances, the Ministry of Education has set up a task force and activated an emergency liaison mechanism with 40 medical universities to monitor student movements and take timely countermeasures. In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare not only requires 221 internship hospitals nationwide not to approve group leave and maintain necessary medical services, but also requires major internship hospitals to submit information about the work of intern residents once a day to understand the resignation, leave, and absence of doctors.
According to an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the move is aimed at preventing intern residents from returning to work first and then leaving again to participate in collective action. At the same time, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has made it clear that it will not provide post-mortem relief or leniency to those who violate the reinstatement order.
According to the Korea Times, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare stressed that leaving the hospital is equivalent to refusing a patient, in which case doctors can be ordered to return to work according to the relevant medical laws, and those who violate the resumption order may face a penalty of revocation of their license and up to three years in prison.
In the face of pressure from South Korea, the Korean Medical Association's "Emergency Countermeasures Committee to Prevent the Expansion of Medical University Recruitment" (hereinafter referred to as the "Countermeasures Committee") issued a statement expressing deep regret over the inappropriate statements such as ** claiming that the license will be revoked to prevent intern residents from voluntarily resigning. If the pressure continues, the countermeasures committee will consider taking countermeasures in accordance with the law.
If this incident results in any physician being adversely affected in their licence to practise, we will see it as a positive challenge to the physician and can take action that is difficult to ignore. All legal response responsibilities will be borne by the Countermeasures Committee. "The countermeasures committee once again stressed that this collective action will not be limited to a one-day strike, but an indefinite strike. Only after the cancellation of the policy of expanding the enrollment of 2,000 students at the medical university can the two sides start a dialogue.
Beijing News reporter Luan Ruoxi.
Edited by Zhang Lei and proofread by Zhao Lin.