Three major groups of senior and junior doctors plan to hold a rare meeting on Wednesday, a medical source said, as the government is set to announce the allocation of an additional 2,000 medical school admission seats.
About 90 percent of 13,000 trainee doctors have left their worksites for about a month in protest of the government’s plan to hike the number of medical students. The labor action showed signs of simmering as medical professors have threatened to quit next week.
Representatives of the three groups — the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), and the Medical Professors Association of Korea — are scheduled to hold a virtual meeting hours after the government’s announcement, according to the source.
Park Dan, the head of KIRA, said on social media that its survey showed that 3.1 percent of 9,929 junior doctors who responded remained on duty as of Monday, remaining nearly unchanged from a week earlier.
The government has been pushing to sharply raise
the number of medical students to brace for the country’s fast-aging population, and a shortage of physicians in rural areas and essential areas, such as pediatrics and emergency departments.
Doctors, on the other hand, say the quota hikes will undermine the quality of medical education and result in higher medical costs for patients. They have called for measures to first address the underpaid specialists and improve legal protection against excessive medical malpractice lawsuits.
Source: Yonhap News Agency