China News Service, March 22 (Xinhua) According to Yonhap News Agency, a group of Korean medical school professors decided to shorten medical practice hours to the legal working hours of 52 hours per week starting from the 25th of this month and minimize outpatient hours. In addition, medical university professors plan to resign collectively on the 25th.
According to reports, Zhao Lunting, the head of the news and publicity committee of the Emergency Countermeasures Committee of the National Association of Medical University Professors (Medical Education Association), held a press conference on the 21st and said that the Medical Education Association held a meeting the day before and reached an agreement on the above content.
According to reports, the Medical Education Association expressed support for the collective resignation of medical university professors on the 25th of this month to oppose the government’s policy of expanding enrollment in medical schools.
According to reports, medical practice time includes time for outpatient clinics, surgeries, diagnosis and treatment of inpatients, etc. After shortening the outpatient clinic hours, it will focus on treating severe and emergency patients. 39 of the total 40 medical schools in Korea participate in the Medical Education Association.
Analysts believe that medical university professor groups shortening their medical practice hours and resigning collectively will further worsen the current medical vacancy problem. Reports pointed out that the Medical Education Association’s move may be in response to the Korean government’s insistence on the 20th that the policy of expanding enrollment by 2,000 students remains unchanged.
According to reports, South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 22nd and stated that in response to the collective actions of the medical community, the South Korean government will dispatch an additional 247 public health physicians and military doctors on the 25th. Previously, 20 military doctors and 138 public health doctors have been deployed to the medical frontline to deal with the medical vacancies.
Han Deok-soo also said that the National Central Medical Center will open a "Retired Physician Support Center" in April to actively connect with medical institutions that employ senior retired physicians and renew contracts with retiring physicians to formulate various support plans.
According to previous reports, the South Korean government announced earlier in February that in order to solve the problem of doctor shortage, the enrollment scale of university medical schools in the 2025 academic year will increase from the current 3,058 to 5,058 students. The plan was strongly opposed by doctors' groups and medical students, and prompted mass resignations from resident physicians.
At present, the South Korean government has sent advance notices of administrative sanctions such as the revocation of medical licenses to thousands of interns and residents who have gone on strike. Starting next week, the South Korean government will revoke the medical licenses of doctors who violate orders to return to work as planned.