The South Korean government had ordered young doctors to return to work under penalty of legal penalties (Shutterstock)

A number of senior doctors in South Korea announced on Saturday that they will submit their resignation as of March 25 in support of their fellow trainees who have been on strike for about a month in protest against the reform of medical studies, in a move that caused chaos in hospitals.

Thousands of trainee doctors stopped working on February 20 to protest against a government project aimed at confronting the shortage of health workers and the aging population.

For the trainees, these changes are the icing on the cake, adding to their difficult working conditions and heavy dependence on the health system as it currently stands.

Representatives of medical professors from 20 universities, who are also senior doctors in public hospitals, met on Friday.

The group's official, Bang Jae-seong, said that 16 institutions declared their "strong support" for supporting young colleagues.

He added to reporters today, Saturday, that professors at “each university have decided to submit their letter of resignation, effective March 25.”

Pang, who did not reveal the number of professors who might leave their jobs on March 25, continued, “But we have reached a consensus that until the resignation becomes final, each individual will have to do his best to care for his patients, as he is doing now.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health this week reiterated that negotiating this reform is not on the table.

The government had ordered young doctors to return to work under penalty of legal penalties, and launched a measure to suspend more than 4,900 trainees who left their jobs.

Seoul plans to accept 2,000 additional students into medical schools every year starting next year to increase what it considers to be one of the lowest ratios of doctors relative to population among developed countries.

In this context, Pang said that doctors cannot accept such an increase, calling on the government to reconsider this number.

He added, "If the situation continues as it is, university hospitals will collapse soon, which will constitute a fatal blow to the medical system."

Doctors fear that the reform will erode the quality of medical services and education, but reform supporters accuse them of wanting to maintain their salaries and social status.

Source: French