Catholic Central Medical Center Resident Representative: "Government Must Show Sincerity, Not Unilateral Notification"

"Not an Increase in Medical School Quotas but a Change in the System Itself"
"No Clear Content in the Essential Medical Package"

The representative of residents at the Catholic Medical Center criticized the government's lack of communication and urged them to show sincerity rather than unilateral notifications.

Kim Tae-geun, representative of the Emergency Measures Committee of the Catholic Central Medical Center Resident Council, is speaking at the symposium "Beyond Medical Policy Conflicts to the Future Medical Environment," hosted by the Catholic University College of Medicine Professors' Council and the Emergency Measures Committee, held on the morning of the 31st at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
Photo by Choi Tae-won peaceful1@

Kim Tae-geun, the representative of the Emergency Response Committee of the Catholic Medical Center Residents' Council, stated this on the morning of the 31st at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital in Seocho-gu, Seoul, during the symposium titled "Beyond Medical-Government Conflicts to the Future Medical Environment," hosted by the Catholic University College of Medicine Professors' Council and the Emergency Response Committee. Kim Tae-geun said, "Unlike Korea's Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee, the Japanese Medical Supply Subcommittee consists of 16 doctors out of 22 members, and all meeting materials are disclosed on their website," adding, "The process is also different; instead of setting a quota of 2,000 and notifying unilaterally like in Korea, expert meetings are held to make recommendations to the government."

He continued, "On the other hand, according to materials submitted by the (Korean) government to the court, the quota of 2,000 medical school admissions was decided only once, in a short one-hour meeting right before the policy announcement," and added, "Residents judged that they could not continue their training unless this unilateral policy decision structure changed, which is why they left the hospitals."

He also pointed out that the government's measures cannot improve residents' working conditions. He explained the fundamental need for problem-solving by saying, "When we mention that residents work up to 80 hours a week, the question always arises, 'If it's that hard, shouldn't the quota be increased?' But nothing will change unless the system that runs by burning out people like this is changed."

He criticized the essential medical package announced by the government as not being a viable alternative and doubted its sincerity. Kim said, "Changing the system requires funding, but the essential medical package does not clearly include such content." He continued, "Public children's rehabilitation hospitals nationwide incur deficits amounting to tens of billions of won annually, but the government opposes support, citing budget shortages due to fiscal austerity," adding, "Meanwhile, the government allocated 9 billion won for medical reform publicity expenses. No one can trust the 10 trillion won promised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare."

He emphasized that the heavy legal burden of medical accidents is another reason why the future of essential medical care is bleak. He said, "There was an incident where pediatric patients died at a university hospital. Seven medical staff were prosecuted for professional negligence resulting in death, three were detained, but ultimately, after five years, they were acquitted," adding, "Although it cannot be concluded as a direct result, the application rate for pediatrics and adolescent departments sharply declined after the incident."

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