New Interns and Residents Massively Decline Appointments... Resigning Intern Sues Hospital Over 'Resident Appointment Notification'

Large Number of New Interns and Residents Resigning This Month
Resigning Residents Sue Training Education Department Over 'Appointment Notification'

Despite the government's 'license suspension' warning, residents are not returning, and it has been reported that a large number of new interns and first-year residents have even refused appointments. One resigning resident also revealed that they filed a lawsuit against the hospital for notifying them of an appointment despite not having signed a contract.

Amid the ongoing strong confrontation between the government and the medical community over the increase in medical school admissions, medical staff are moving at a large hospital in Seoul on the 29th of last month, the government's deadline for residents who left the hospital to return. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

According to the medical community on the 4th, a situation has occurred where a large number of interns and residents who were supposed to start this month on the 1st have refused their appointments at major training hospitals. Previously, more than 90% of medical school graduates who were scheduled to become interns, as well as interns who were to be appointed as first-year residents, expressed their intention to decline the appointments. The usual start date for training for residents and interns is March 1st every year.

It appears that not only residents but also fellows are refusing appointments. 'Fellows' are doctors who, after completing residency and obtaining specialist qualifications, conduct research in specialized clinical fields while treating patients at hospitals.

At Chonnam National University Hospital, 21 out of 52 newly appointed fellows ultimately declined their appointments. At Chosun University Hospital, 13 out of 19 fellows in the quota refused appointments, leaving only 6 to work. At Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, the contract renewal date for 7 fellows has arrived, but some have expressed their intention not to renew.

However, the situation of fellow departures varies by hospital. Fellows at Seoul National University Hospital were appointed without disruption as of the 1st of this month, and Severance Hospital is maintaining its usual scale without significant fellow departures. Samsung Seoul Hospital, Ewha Medical Center, and Korea University Guro Hospital have experienced some fellow outflow, but it is not yet a situation causing major concern or confusion. Seoul Asan Hospital has not yet confirmed the renewal status of fellows’ contracts, and professors are continuously persuading them.

As the medical gap lengthens, even emergency rooms are suffering from staff shortages. Seoul Asan Hospital has announced that it can no longer accommodate medical intensive care unit (MICU) patients in the emergency room. Severance Hospital has stated that it will only partially accept emergency patients such as those with myocardial infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. Seoul St. Mary's Hospital also said that it is completely unable to provide 24-hour emergency room care for patients with simple facial or skin lacerations or open wounds.

Ryu Okhada, former intern representative at Catholic Central Medical Center. Photo by Choi Taewon peaceful1@

As the government issued a 'treatment maintenance order' on the 27th of last month targeting those scheduled to be appointed as first-year residents, dissatisfaction among residents is also emerging.

Ryu Okhada, who was the intern representative at the Catholic Central Medical Center, told reporters on the 4th via messenger that she is filing a lawsuit against officials in the training and education department of the Catholic Central Medical Center for notifying her of an appointment despite not having signed a resident contract.

She compared the hospital to 'Nazi collaborators' and 'pro-Japanese factions,' stating, "I am as disappointed in the behavior of the training and education department of the Catholic Central Medical Center, to which I belonged, as I am in the government's conduct of health care dictatorship." She added, "After consulting with a lawyer, I am suing the training and education department for aiding and abetting abuse of authority and obstruction of business," and said, "The lawsuit targets the head of the training education team and four team members."

Ryu said, "My intern contract ended on the 29th of last month. After that, I did not sign a resident contract. How can I be appointed without a contract?" and added, "Saying they were just doing their job from their position is nothing but an excuse."

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