Will there be a conflict between the government and the medical community in Korea? Will a medical crisis break out?

Korea is famous for being able to receive world-class medical services at a low cost. But these days, in Korea, the government and the medical community are fighting. I also hear that there will soon be a medical crisis in which patients will not be able to receive treatment. Let's see what's going on.

Why are they fighting?

*What happened? : In recent years in Korea, local cities have been unable to hire doctors to work at public health centers even when offered an annual salary of 400 million won. Doctors leave cities with better living environments to work in rural areas, but their annual salary of 400 million won is not enough. This caused many Korean people to become angry.

*“There are not enough doctors”: The Korean government believes that the problem is that the number of doctors produced per year has been fixed at 3,058 since 2006. So, we decided to increase the number of students in medical schools across the country by 2,000.

*“Increasing the number of doctors will not solve the problem”: The medical community is countering that the medical shortage problem cannot be solved by increasing the number of medical school students. Since compensation for local and essential medical care is low, doctors do not go to rural areas, so this must be resolved first.

Is the medical situation in Korea okay now?

*Doctors submit resignation letters: When the Korean government announced that it would increase the number of students in medical schools by 2,000 each year, thousands of doctors are submitting resignation letters to hospitals and refusing to provide medical treatment.

*Increasing damage to patients: Because of this, patients visiting the hospital are experiencing damage such as ▲cancellation of surgery, ▲cancellation of medical appointments, ▲refusal of treatment, and ▲delayed hospitalization.

*“We will not leave alone collective action”: The government issued a resumption order to doctors who left the hospital to return to the hospital. They told me that if I didn't comply, my medical license would be suspended.

What happens next?

*Korean government's response: The government tried to reduce the medical gap by expanding the weekday treatment hours of public hospitals and allowing them to open on holidays. They say they plan to fully allow non-face-to-face treatment during the doctors' collective action period. However, even if the Korean government operates an emergency medical treatment system, it is expected that the limit for the period of survival will be 2 to 3 weeks.

*Which side are Korean people on? : The reason the government can take such a strong stance against the medical community is because the Korean people also believe that there is a shortage of doctors. When asked in a public opinion poll whether they supported expanding the number of medical school students, 89.3% of respondents said they were in favor.

*The medical crisis must be resolved quickly: First of all, the government is in an advantageous situation because public opinion is on the government's side. However, in the process, it appears that considerable damage will occur to patients who must use the hospital. I hope this situation ends quickly.

Mary Eve of Papaya Story