Seoul: South Korean hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients, while thousands of trainee doctors have been boycotting work for three days in protest against government plans to raise the admission quota for medical universities, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Thursday, citing medical sources.
On Tuesday, South Korean junior doctors launched a mass protest as more than 1,000 doctors from Seoul’s five largest hospitals reportedly handed in their resignations and refused to come to work. The crisis erupted over the government’s policy to address the shortage of medical personnel by increasing the number of students admitted to medical schools.
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As of Wednesday night, a total of 9,275 trainee doctors, or 74.4%, have submitted their resignations, while 8,024 of them have left their jobs, the news agency reported, citing Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo.
The health ministry has received some 150 complaints related to the mass resignations, the official added.
“The power of doctors does not come from collective action,” Park was quoted as saying by Yonhap as telling reporters, calling on the trainees to return to their patients and urging the protesters to join negotiations with authorities.
The work of operating rooms has been cut in half, while the number of surgeries has dropped by 50% at Severance Hospital in central Seoul and by 30% at St. Mary’s Hospital and Asan Medical Centre, medical sources said.
Over 6,110 doctors have been ordered to return to work and continue their services, but interns have ignored the government’s order, Yonhap reported on Wednesday.
The Korean Intern Resident Association, which unites South Korean trainee doctors, has called the government’s plan “ridiculous” and urged authorities to abandon it.
