Low Number of Residency Applicants Expected in First Half of Next Year... "Concerns Over Workforce Shortage"

Recruiting 3,594 First-Year Students... Around 10 Applicants per Big 5 School

The recruitment for first-year residents (interns) for the first half of next year closed on the 9th, and it has been confirmed that even the 'Big 5' hospitals received only a small number of applicants. Training hospitals are concerned about an immediate shortage of medical personnel as recruiting residents remains difficult in the first half of next year, following the second half of this year.

Yonhap News

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Training Evaluation Committee, 176 training hospitals nationwide recruited 3,594 first-year residents for the first half of next year from the 4th until 5 p.m. on the closing day. However, the number of applicants per hospital remained in the single digits or around ten until the deadline.

In Seoul, the 'Big 5' hospitals, which are major tertiary general hospitals and representative training hospitals, reportedly had single-digit applicants or barely exceeded ten applicants per hospital. Some residents who had planned to return next year hesitated to apply due to the martial law situation and the aftermath of the impeachment political crisis.

Hospitals anticipate significant aftereffects from the prolonged absence of returning residents. Many residents have already resigned this year, disrupting the production of specialists. If new residents continue to be unavailable, not only will the shortage of medical personnel on the frontlines worsen immediately, but it will also become impossible to produce properly trained doctors for several years to come.

Meanwhile, for interns, applications will be accepted on January 22-23 next year after the medical licensing exam, but since the number of exam takers itself is low, the application rate is also expected to be poor.

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