<Anchor> As of

2018, the number of doctors per 1,000 population in Korea is 2.4. Colombia and Poland are the only countries with less than 70% of the OECD average. Of course, the number of times a single person has been treated is high, so our'medical accessibility' is high. The problem is that doctors are'crowded in the metropolitan area'. In Seoul, the number of doctors is 3.12 per 1,000 people, but the smallest in Gyeongbuk is 1.4 and less than half. The local medical staff gap is not a day or two, but the government and ruling party today announced that they will recruit 4,000 more medical students over the next 10 years to become'local doctors'. The Medical Association is protesting and protesting the general strike.

Reporters Kim Hyeong-rae and Nam Joo-hyun report in turn.

<Reporter Kim Hyeong-rae>

Since 2006, the number of admissions to medical schools nationwide has been maintained at 3,583.

The government plans to increase the number of medical students by 400 every year for 10 years from the 2022 school year when high school students go to college.

Of the 400, 50 are assigned to specialty fields such as severe trauma, 50 are assigned to the medical science field, and the remaining 300 become'local doctors'.

Local doctors are admitted to medical schools outside the metropolitan area as special admissions and receive full scholarships.

Specialized subjects are limited to areas with insufficient number of doctors, such as general surgery and obstetrics and gynecology, and after graduation, you must work for 10 years at the local public medical institution.

If you break this, your scholarship will be refunded and your doctor's license will be cancelled.

[Adjusted/Independence Democratic Party Policy Committee Chairman: On average, 38% of (doctors) continue to work in an attempt at a graduated university. In that sense, the system was introduced to allow 10 years of service in the region and to work.] The

government then established the National Graduate School of Public Health to train doctors in essential fields such as epidemiological investigations. I decided to open the wall.

He also said that he would consider considering creating a new medical school in Jeonnam, the only country in the country where there is no medical school.

(Video interview: Ha Leung, video editing: wonhyeonghui, CG: jeonghyeonjeong)

<namjuhyeon news>

"The question is arranged as a person."

It is a placard phrase brought up by the doctors' association in opposition to the doctor's increase

Instead of increasing the number of doctors, the government should start analyzing the causes, such as why doctors are not going to essential areas such as thoracic surgery and why there are insufficient doctors in the region.

[Largest House/Chairman of the Korean Medical Association: Without establishing an institutional framework for doctors to practice medically in essential medical fields or areas, the policy to save everything with only augmentation is obviously unsuccessful.]

To expand local doctors We need to solve the problem of aging facilities in the local medical center and chronic shortage of manpower.

In actual Corona19 situation, except for patients with mild symptoms, it is necessary to go to a general hospital with more than 300 beds, but only 8 of the local medical centers have more than 300 beds.

[Cho Seung-yeon/National Medical Center Association Chairperson (Last Month, National Assembly Discussion): (Corona 19) Hospitals with manpower and facilities to see severe patients are few, and even if only two or three people are exhausted, the entire workforce is in poor condition. .]

In addition, it is necessary not only to send'local doctors' alone in areas with poor medical conditions, but also to complement facilities such as nurses and facilities leading from the emergency room to the operating room and intensive care unit.

[Professor Kwon Yong-jin/Seoul National University Hospital Public Health Center: In order for the skilled workers, cost, and facilities to be complemented, there must be hospitals with more than 300 beds.

Others say that private hospitals, which account for 90% of all hospitals, should also prepare support measures to respond to infectious diseases or treat vulnerable groups.

The Medical Association said that if the government pushed for more doctors without an alternative, the government would start a general strike in the middle of next month.

(Video coverage: Park Dae-young·Kim Sung-il, Video editing: Kim Sun-tak)