[Breaking News] "Pilot Project to Reduce Continuous Working Hours for Residents to Start from May"

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 28th that it will implement a "Pilot Project to Reduce Continuous Working Hours for Residents" starting this May.

The ministry stated, "We will accelerate institutional improvements to enhance the treatment of residents," promising to reduce the excessive working hours of residents.

The total training hours for residents were revised in February under the "Act on the Improvement of Training Environment and Status of Residents," allowing the Ministry of Health and Welfare to set weekly working hours up to 80 hours and continuous working hours up to 36 hours by ministerial decree.

The ministry explained, "Although the law will be enforced in February 2026, we will launch the 'Pilot Project to Reduce Continuous Working Hours for Residents' starting this May," adding, "Participating hospitals will receive various policy supports for project operation, and incentives will be provided for resident quota allocation in 2025."

Furthermore, the ministry said, "Through this, additional personnel will be deployed at each hospital to alleviate residents' workload and support them to focus on training," adding, "We will evaluate the results of the one-year pilot project and promptly institutionalize the reduction of continuous working hours for residents, expanding it to all training hospitals."

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