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number of doctors and nurses to the population in Korea is far below the OECD average.

The average age of doctors is also increasing, and it has been found that there are large differences by region.



Reporter Han Seong-hee will explain in detail the results of the investigation by the Institute for Health and Social Affairs.



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As of 2019, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in Korea is 2.5.



It is far below the OECD average of 3.6, and slightly better than Mexico and Poland.



In the case of nurses, it was found that a significant number were leaving the medical field.



Only 51.8% of license holders were active, which is lower than the OECD average of 66.3%.



Nursing assistants have increased the most among medical personnel over the past 10 years.



However, the average annual wage is only 12% of that of doctors with 230 million won.



The aging of doctors is also something to pay attention to.



The average age of doctors was 47.9 years, an increase of 4.1 years in 10 years.


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In particular, as young doctors are flocking to the metropolitan area, Seoul is 45.7 years old, but Gyeongbuk is 50.9 years old and Jeonnam is 50.7 years old.



[Shin Young-seok / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs: There are many areas that (doctors) do not go to.

Local government medical centers cannot find a doctor even if they offer 400 million won (annual wage), and these things are becoming a reality...

.]



As older doctors in non-metropolitan areas begin to retire in earnest, local health care could be severely disrupted.



[Jeong Jang-won / Director of Otolaryngology Clinic in Gangnam, Seoul: If this tendency (doctors flock to the metropolitan area) increases, I think the number of medical personnel in the metropolitan area and the difference in the quality of medical care will increase in the future.] The



shortage of medical personnel We need to discuss regional balance before it happens.



(Video coverage: Park Jin-ho, video editing: Kim Byeong-jik, CG: Lee Jun-ho, Ryu Sang-soo)