Conflict between the medical community and the government over ”increasing medical school admission quotas” continues in South Korea = If ”holidays” are set, medical gaps will become even more of a concern

It has been about two months since the Korean government announced a policy to increase the number of admissions to medical schools in order to alleviate the doctor shortage, and doctors strongly opposed it, leading to mass resignations of trainees. However, there is still no prospect of a resolution.
The government has set up a special committee directly under the president to hold direct talks with medical personnel, but not a single representative from the medical community attended the first meeting held on the 25th of this month.
With details of the expansion of medical school admission quotas expected to be finalized as early as the end of next month, doctors are becoming increasingly rebellious, with some professors at university hospitals announcing plans to set aside one day for consultations next week.
It is feared that the medical gap will widen further. The South Korean government announced in February this year that it would increase the number of admissions to medical schools by 2,000 from the 2025 academic year entrance examination.
This would be the first time since 1998, when the medical school was established at Jeju National University in the south. The number of students was increased to 3,507 in 1998, but was reduced to 3,058 in 2006. Since then, the number of students has been reduced to 3,058 per year.
The number of doctors in Korea has remained at 058.058. Korea is facing a serious shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas.
According to the OECD Statistics and Implications, South Korea had 2.3 doctors per 1,000 people, lower than the OECD average of 3.5 and the lowest among member states.
In an effort to resolve the shortage of doctors, in July 2020, the administration of previous Moon Jae-in announced a plan to increase medical school admissions quotas, training an additional 4,000 doctors over a 10-year period.
However, medical students and interns protested, going on strike, and the plan was not realized. At the time, medical students and interns believed that the cause was not a shortage of doctors overall, but rather a shortage of doctors in the so-called departments of surgery and obstetrics and gynecology.
The reason for this is the shortage of doctors in "essential medical fields." These "essential medical fields" tend to be avoided due to the high workload and the relatively high risk of lawsuits, while the profitable fields of dermatology, ophthalmology,
They argued that the concentration of doctors in cosmetic surgery is ultimately causing a shortage of doctors. At the time, the Korean Medical Association forced a strike due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Moon administration prioritized the COVID-19 response, so it
Even after the change of government, the Korean government continued to insist on increasing the number of medical school admissions. The Yoon Seok-yeol administration also said, "In order to protect the health and lives of the people, we will not increase the number of doctors.
As soon as the government announced in February that it would increase the number of students admitted to medical schools, medical interns responded with fierce opposition, just as they did in 2020.
In protest, trainees resigned en masse. This caused delays to routine medical examinations and surgeries, throwing the medical field into chaos. The serious situation continues to this day.
In an effort to resolve the conflict with doctors, the government proposed to establish a special committee on medical reform directly under the president, and invited the Korean Medical Association, medical interns, medical students, and medical school professors to participate.
However, the doctors expressed their refusal to participate and requested that the plan to increase the number of doctors be scrapped. The committee is made up of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Administration and Safety, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Finance.
The committee was scheduled to be made up of 27 people, including the heads of six government ministries and agencies and representatives of three medical associations. The first meeting was held on the 25th, but no medical associations participated.
"This reform is an attempt to transform the medical system, and it is an issue that cannot be put off any longer," he said, calling on members of medical associations to join the committee as soon as possible.
As the opposition from the medical community continues, the government is hoping to make a final decision on increasing the number of medical school students by the end of next month, further intensifying the opposition from the medical community.
The committee said, "The medical vacuum caused by the resignations of interns has continued for more than two months, and the fatigue of professors who remain in the medical field has reached its limit," and decided to allow each hospital to decide on one-day leave within the next week.
The hospital announced that it will close on the 30th. However, it will still treat emergency and seriously ill patients. Seoul National University Hospital and others have already decided to close on the 30th. Going forward, the hospital will close once a week on a regular schedule.
The Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reported that "the medical vacuum is expected to widen further." In addition to medical interns, a professor of the medical school has also submitted his resignation and left the hospital.
On the other hand, the government takes the position that a medical professor must obtain approval from the university president before he can resign, and that he cannot stop practicing medicine simply by submitting his resignation.
Both the government and the medical community are refusing to compromise, and there is no room for compromise. The medical vacuum continues, and it is imperative that the two sides return to the table for dialogue as soon as possible.
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