South Korean Trainee Doctors Walk Out en Masse
Physicians argue that trying to combat dwindling numbers with increased medical school places ignores the real problem: gruelling hours and low pay
At several major South Korean hospitals, thousands of doctors walked out on Tuesday, causing widespread disruption in a protest at the government’s plan to increase the numbers of medical school students, The New York Times reports.
On Monday, over 6000 doctors had submitted resignations at Seoul’s five hospitals and left at 6am on Tuesday, the Health Department reported. One of the hospitals had up a sign saying that its emergency department was only handling cardiac arrest cases; the other four were on “red alert”.
Government sources state that 7813 doctors had walked off the job, Reuters reports.
South Korea may have one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world, but it is plagued by a critical shortage of doctors. The protestors, interns and residents, say that this shortage is confined to certain areas such as emergency medicine, which are poorly compensated by the government and insurance providers. Cosmetic medicine on the other hand, is highly profitable.
One survey found that doctors in training regularly work shifts longer than 24 hours and many work for more than 80 hours a week. (In South Africa, a 2012 study found that interns regularly put in 150–200 hours of overtime per month, working out to 80–90 hours a week.)
Other factors such as an ageing population are putting more and more strain on doctors.
Early this month, the government announced a plan to increase South Korea’s medical school admissions quota from 3000 to 5000. The Ministry of Health and Welfare regulates the licences to practice medicine. Doctors were immediately critical of the plan, protesting with placards saying things like “end of health care.”
