"Low Number of Applicants Leads to Additional National Medical Exam Review... No Relief Measures for Residents"

Few Applicants for Second Half Resident Recruitment Closing on 31st
Government Accelerates Structural Transformation of Tertiary Hospitals

With one day left before the closing of the second half resident recruitment at training hospitals and with minimal applicants, the government has firmly stated that there will be no additional measures to bring residents back. However, since the application rate for next year’s medical licensing examination (KMLE) is only about 11%, the government plans to actively consider conducting an additional licensing exam.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Guk-il, Chief of the Central Accident Response Headquarters (Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare), stated at a briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on doctors’ collective action held at the Government Seoul Office on the 30th, “The government plans to respond strictly, including requesting investigations against those who obstruct returning residents through unfair methods such as disclosing personal information.” He added, “We hope that each training hospital will do their best to ensure that residents who wish to return can do so without disadvantages and focus on their training.”

Regarding some medical school professors declaring a boycott of supervising returning residents in the second half, he said, “When meeting with various professors and hospital directors, they say the possibility of residents not undergoing training after being recruited is low.” He continued, “We believe they will fully fulfill their roles as supervising specialists, and if a boycott situation arises, we will consider various measures.”

Kim emphasized, “The improvement of the resident training system is currently being discussed in depth by the Medical Reform Special Committee,” adding, “The direction that tertiary hospitals should reduce excessive dependence on residents and move toward specialist-centered hospitals is not significantly different between the government and the medical community.”

He also clearly stated the need for support for physician assistant (PA) nurses in the process of moving toward specialist-centered hospitals. Kim explained, “There are currently about 13,000 active PA nurses, and we are considering various support measures for them.”

The government’s position is that it is not considering shortening the training period for residents recruited in the second half, which has been raised by some. Kim said, “We are not considering shortening the training period,” adding, “Instead, we are reviewing the possibility of an additional specialist exam so that those who complete the training process can obtain their specialist qualification within the same year.”

He also said, “Although the scale of second half resident applications is not large, we are not considering additional measures for returnees at this time,” but added, “If many medical students return and complete their studies, we plan to actively consider conducting an additional licensing exam.”

Regarding increasing the number of resident members in the Training Environment Evaluation Committee, he said, “We plan to select two additional government members; first, we will receive one more recommendation from residents, and the rest will be added as experts recommended by the government.”

Earlier that morning at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong promised, “We will carefully examine the factors causing resigning residents to hesitate to return and actively respond to resolve them,” adding, “Together with training hospitals, we will strive to ensure that returning residents receive quality training in improved working environments and obtain specialist qualifications.”

He also emphasized, “Even if the return of residents remains small, we will accelerate effective and fundamental reforms such as restructuring tertiary hospitals to reduce excessive dependence on residents,” adding, “We will increase the proportion of treatment for severe, emergency, and rare diseases, and through operational innovations that reduce general hospital beds to appropriate levels, we will make this an opportunity to normalize the medical delivery system.”

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