If You Don't Join Collective Action, 'Chamise' Mocked... Controversy Over Resident Doctors' 'Blacklist'

Controversy Over 'List of Residents to Identify' Left at the Scene in Doctor Community

As the collective resignation crisis of residents prolongs, a post mocking residents who remain at medical sites to stay by patients' side as 'cham-uisa' (true doctors) has been uploaded to a doctors' community, sparking controversy.

On the 7th, Yonhap News reported that a post titled 'List of Residents Who Can Attend as Cham-uisa' was recently uploaded on 'Medistaff,' an online community used by doctors and medical students. The post contains information estimated to be the departments and the number of remaining residents by department who have not left the medical sites at about 70 training hospitals nationwide.

In some lists, about nine cases revealed two out of three characters of names presumed to be residents remaining on site. There was also information presumed to be their alma mater. Comments on the post included remarks such as "It's unfortunate since it's my alma mater," "They should be preserved forever," and "Please add ○○ Hospital to the list of hospitals without cham-uisa."

In front of the exclusive area for residents at a hospital in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The person who reported the post to Yonhap News pointed out that this is a kind of 'search operation.' The informant said, "Residents who are not participating in the refusal of medical treatment are being called 'cham-uisa' and are being searched for," adding, "I felt the need to inform that doctors are searching for those who do not join their cause, so I reported it."

It is known that such 'search operations' also occurred in 2020 when residents took collective action opposing the government's plan to increase medical school admissions and establish public medical schools.

Medical staff are moving at a large hospital in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Another doctor using this community said, "The same thing happened in 2020." This doctor added, "I don't know if the list is accurate, but judging from the comments, there seem to be many expressions of anger and betrayal." He said, "Although it is not a collective action, if such an atmosphere is created, whether intended or not by the author, returning to the field could be frightening."

Earlier last month, a post titled '[Important] Must-read for Residents Leaving the Hospital' was also posted on this community. The author wrote, "Delete the handover notes from the desktop and the department's shared folder before leaving. Also, change the set orders (sets of essential prescriptions grouped for easier prescribing) all strangely before leaving," adding, "Some hospitals can restore deleted files, so arbitrarily changing them is best." This was a directive shared with residents intending to resign to delete or alter hospital files before leaving.

As the controversy grew, the police launched an investigation into the original author of the post and have booked a medical student presumed to be the author for investigation.

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