Meanwhile... Doctors Entering a Total Strike

The Korean Medical Association, which has announced a second strike in protest against the expansion of medical school quotas, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the relevant government department, held an emergency meeting on the 19th. Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo and Korean Medical Association President Choi Dae-jip exchanged fist bumps at the 'Medical-Government Meeting' held at the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The medical community, which has announced a second collective strike in protest against the expansion of medical school quotas, will begin collective action from the 21st after failing to narrow differences with the government. As residents and doctors proceed with collective action as scheduled amid the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), concerns about medical service gaps are growing.

According to the medical community on the 20th, residents including interns and residents training at university hospitals will begin an indefinite strike from the 21st, followed by the Korean Medical Association entering a general strike for three days starting from the 26th. The medical community has defined the government's medical policies?including the expansion of medical school quotas, the pilot project for herbal medicine coverage, the establishment of public medical schools, and the introduction of telemedicine (non-face-to-face treatment)?as the "four major evils" and is calling for a review.

Residents plan to sequentially stop working starting with interns and fourth-year residents on the 21st, third-year residents on the 22nd, and first- and second-year residents on the 23rd. The return date has not been set. After the indefinite strike, they will also submit resignation letters and refuse to take specialist exams.

General practitioners nationwide will conduct a second collective strike from the 26th to the 28th. The Korean Medical Association recently proposed talks to the government amid a surge in COVID-19 patients centered in the metropolitan area, but failed to reach an agreement at a meeting held the day before. Kim Dae-ha, spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, said, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare insisted on maintaining existing policies, making it impossible to reach an agreement," and added, "We will proceed with the second nationwide doctors' general strike as planned."

Fourth-year medical students nationwide are also participating in collective action by canceling their scheduled medical licensing exams.

As residents who assist professors with surgeries and treatments at tertiary hospitals and check the condition of hospitalized patients, as well as general practitioners at local clinics, enter collective action, a medical service gap appears inevitable. Major university hospitals have responded by reducing the number of scheduled patients and postponing surgery schedules.

Seoul Asan Medical Center has slightly reduced some outpatient treatments and inpatient reservations from the 21st and postponed surgeries with low emergency levels. Severance Hospital plans to respond to medical service gaps by reallocating personnel and utilizing hospitalist specialists.

However, essential medical fields such as emergency rooms and intensive care units will be maintained. Kim Dae-ha, spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, stated after the failed talks with the Ministry of Health and Welfare the day before, "Essential medical functions will be maintained during future collective actions as well," and emphasized, "The principle of minimizing patient inconvenience must be clearly upheld." He added, "Although there were significant concerns during previous collective actions, there was no medical crisis," and apologized for "some patient inconveniences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.