"Residents Will Not Be Held Accountable If They Return by the 29th"

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The collective opposition of doctors to the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 is spreading throughout the entire medical community. The collective action, which began with the mass resignation of residents, has expanded to include medical students' alliance strikes and has now gained support from medical associations and medical school professors.

On the 19th, a view of a university hospital in downtown Seoul. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 26th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that as of 7 p.m. on the 23rd, 10,034 residents, accounting for 80.5% of residents at 100 major training hospitals, had submitted their resignation letters. Additionally, 9,006 residents, or 72.3% of those affiliated, were reported to have left their workplaces.

Prior to this, on the 25th, the Korean Medical Association's Emergency Response Committee held a "National Doctors' Representatives Expanded Meeting" at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Attendees included the KMA emergency committee members, presidents of city and provincial medical associations, and heads of the Korean Public Health Doctors Association and the Korean Intern Residents Association. They declared, "If the medical school expansion and essential medical policies are enforced, we will resist to the end," and argued that the government's "4 Major Essential Medical Policy Package," pushed alongside the medical school expansion, infringes on the public's freedom to choose medical care and restricts doctors' rights to practice, demanding its abolition. After the meeting, about 200 doctors marched from the KMA headquarters in Dongbu Ichon-dong to the Yongsan Presidential Office. The KMA plans to hold a rally on March 3 in Yeouido, Seoul, with 20,000 doctors participating nationwide.

Following the residents' resignations, new interns (trainees) scheduled to be appointed at major training hospitals next month have also begun to refuse their appointments. At Seoul National University Hospital, all but five of the 184 interns hired this year declined to sign their training contracts. Interns scheduled for appointment at training hospitals nationwide, including Pusan National University Hospital, Chonnam National University Hospital, Chungnam National University Hospital, Jeju National University Hospital, Dankook University Hospital, and Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, have also submitted letters of refusal.

Meanwhile, full-time fellows filling the vacancies left by residents are showing signs of not renewing their contracts and planning to end their work by the end of February. Fourth-year residents, who are the candidates for new full-time fellow appointments in March, are also showing reluctance to apply for fellow positions. If this continues, there is concern about a shortage of full-time fellows at major tertiary hospitals. Full-time fellows are contracted annually and typically leave after one to two years, so even if they do not renew their contracts at the end of this month, the government cannot impose sanctions.

Currently, in large domestic training hospitals, including the "Big 5" (Seoul National University, Seoul Asan, Severance, Samsung Seoul, and Seoul St. Mary's), interns, residents, and full-time fellows make up nearly half or more of the entire medical staff. If vacancies arise not only among residents but also among interns and fellows, surgeries, hospitalizations, and outpatient care at these hospitals will effectively come to an "all stop."

Medical students currently pushing for alliance strikes face the possibility that if they take leave, the fourth-year students in the clinical phase will be unable to graduate next year, making it impossible to supply interns to training hospitals next year as well. The five-year training process from intern to resident involves performing assigned medical duties while receiving education from senior staff according to each year’s rank. If this entire group is absent, the domestic specialist training system will be completely paralyzed.

In addition, some medical school professors have joined the opposition to the medical school expansion. On the 24th, the Yonsei University College of Medicine Faculty Council issued a statement demanding the establishment of a system reflecting the opinions of clinical medical experts, disclosure and full reconsideration of the basis for the decision to increase admissions by 2,000, and cessation of surveillance and intimidation of residents and medical students. The Seoul National University College of Medicine Emergency Response Committee stated the day before that "if the government does not take reasonable measures regarding residents, we will act together with them." Some professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine are reportedly advocating for the cessation of their concurrent appointments at Seoul National University Hospital. Seoul National University and Seoul National University Hospital are separate legal entities, and professors from the medical school are dispatched to the hospital in a concurrent appointment capacity to provide care. Professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine who cancel their concurrent appointments and stop hospital practice are not considered to be refusing medical care under the Medical Service Act, making it difficult for the government to impose sanctions. The Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine Faculty Association also issued a statement on the 26th urging both the medical community and government to compromise, stating that an increase of 500 students is appropriate and opposing the government's plan to increase admissions by 2,000.

In response to the expanding collective action in the medical community, the government announced on the 26th that residents who have left hospitals will not be held accountable if they return within this month, aiming to resolve the medical service gaps.

Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting addressing the doctors' collective action, "If residents return to hospitals by the 29th, we will not hold them responsible for past actions." He added, "The residents' collective action has intensified confusion in medical settings, posing real threats to patients' lives and health," and "dangerous situations are occurring in emergency medical settings."

Park Min-soo, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, also stated at a briefing that "if they return to hospitals by the 29th, past responsibilities will not be pursued," but warned, "From March, those who do not return will face license suspension for up to three months and related judicial procedures according to laws and principles."

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