Government: "From Today, Resident Doctors' Continuous Work Hours Reduced from 36 to 24-30 Hours"

"Minimizing Disadvantages for Returning Residents
Residents, Please Trust the Government and Come Back"

The government will implement a pilot project to reduce continuous working hours for residents at 42 hospitals nationwide starting from the 31st.

Jeon Byeong-wang, the 1st Controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, stated at the briefing on the doctors' collective action held at the Government Seoul Office that "Starting today, the 'Pilot Project to Reduce Continuous Working Hours for Residents' will be fully implemented," adding, "The pilot project period will last until April next year, and each hospital will shorten residents' continuous working hours from the current 36 hours to 24-30 hours through adjustments in work patterns and schedules, as well as additional staffing."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the revision of the "Act on Improvement of Training Environment and Status of Residents (Resident Act)" in February, which provides the legal basis for reducing residents' working hours and continuous working hours, the total training hours for residents can now be regulated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare's decree to a maximum of 80 hours per week and a maximum of 36 continuous working hours. Ahead of its enforcement in February 2026, the Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to fully launch the pilot project to reduce continuous working hours starting today to enable practical application in the field.

As a result of the call for hospitals to participate in the pilot project from the 2nd to the 17th of this month, 44 hospitals applied, and after review by a selection committee composed of experts in resident training and training hospitals, a total of 42 hospitals were selected, the Ministry explained.

Among them, 31 hospitals are located in the metropolitan area, including 14 tertiary general hospitals and 17 general hospitals, and 11 hospitals are in non-metropolitan areas, including 4 tertiary general hospitals and 7 general hospitals.

Each hospital will shorten residents' continuous working hours from the current maximum of 36 hours to a range of 24-30 hours by adding specialists or adjusting residents' work patterns and schedules.

Six hospitals?Gangwon National University Hospital, Korea University Guro Hospital, Korea University Anam Hospital, Daegu Fatima Hospital, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, and Inha University Hospital?will begin the pilot project starting today. The remaining hospitals will implement the project sequentially depending on the return status of residents to their training hospitals.

Jeon, the Controller, said, "Starting with the pilot project to reduce residents' working hours, we are embarking on substantial improvements such as rational adjustment of total working hours, improvement of hospital staffing structures, and support for training costs so that residents can receive high-quality education as trainees under clearly different conditions than before."

He also urged residents who have not yet returned to promptly come back.

Jeon stated, "The government plans to minimize disadvantages for residents who return," and added, "We hope that you will now trust the government and courageously return to your affiliated hospitals."

He further said, "Under the financial investment direction to strengthen national support for resident training, support for resident training will be significantly expanded to an unprecedented level," and urged, "Residents, who are policy partners for innovation in the training environment, are asked to promptly return to the medical field and participate in ensuring that system improvements proceed in the direction you desire."

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