President Yoon says more doctors needed in essential fields and rural areas

Yoon Suk Yeol proposed reducing the legal risks and insurance premiums for doctors in essential fields, including obstetrics and gynecology. The government initally planned to add1,000 more medical school students a year.

Patients and guardians waits at Kyungpook National University Hospital’s pediatric department in Daegu on Thursday. There have been concerns over the lack of essential medical services and professions especially in provincial areas outside the greater Seoul area. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol emphasized the urgency of increasing the number of doctors, especially those in essential fields.

As part of a major reform plan, Yoon said the government department in charge of hospitals run by public universities, including Seoul National University, will be changed from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Additionally, Yoon proposed reducing the legal risks and insurance premiums for doctors in essential fields, including obstetrics and gynecology.

“We need to correct the supply and utilization system of medical services, which has collapsed,” Yoon said during a strategy meeting with doctors and university presidents on innovating critical health care services at Chungbuk National University on Thursday. “We need to expand essential medical service personnel outside the greater Seoul area.”

“The purpose of innovating the medical service is for the people,” Yoon said.

This was the first time Yoon had personally raised the need to increase the number of doctors in fields directly connected to critical conditions such as emergency operations.

“Regional essential medical services that are directly connected with the health and life of the people have collapsed,” Yoon said. “Many patients failed to get treated at the appropriate time because there are not enough pediatricians, obstetricians or gynecologists.”

He also said the wide gap between cities — especially between the greater Seoul area and the provincial regions — in access to medical institutions, including clinics, has reached a critical point.

“Regrettably, the structural reforms that would have improved the medical service delivery system and the supply of medical staff have been delayed, having been buried under the expansion of health insurance coverage, which could lead to the misuse of medical services,” Yoon said.

The president said increasing the number of medical staff in essential fields is necessary to prevent medical services from further collapsing outside of the metropolitan area and to prepare for a rapidly aging society.

“We also need to cultivate medical professions, not only clinical physicians but also medical scientists,” Yoon said.

“Compensation reform should also take place, including reducing legal risks and adjusting insurance premiums to attract more doctors in essential fields such as pediatrics,” Yoon said. “We also need to solve long working hours to create an environment where doctors focus on treating patients.”

“The government will invest in significantly increasing the capacity in treating patients with severe conditions,” Yoon said. “We will also strengthen the network between public universities and regional hospitals to reinforce cooperation.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a strategic meeting on innovating the medical services held at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on Thursday. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The government was supposed to announce its plan to increase medical staff on Thursday, including enrolling 1,000 more medical school students a year.

The newly increased quota was to be implemented in 2025.

However, after several more discussions with the medical community, it postponed its announcement.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is scheduled to meet with the Korea Medical Association on Nov. 2.

Doctors have argued that simply increasing the number of medical school students will not solve the chronic problem, as many future doctors will still avoid essential fields and provincial areas.

Even today, some publicly run clinics have struggled to fill vacancies despite offering huge salaries.

While the government has been reportedly mulling over downsizing the quota increase, it has remained steadfast in boosting the number of medical school admissions.

“There is strong public support for increasing medical professions,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday.

The quota for medical school students has remained the same at 3,058 since 2006, or nearly two decades.

Currently, there are 110,000 or so doctors still practicing.

However, Korea ranked second-lowest among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the number of doctors per capita after Mexico.

According to OECD’s report in July, Korea had 2.6 clinical doctors for every 1,000 people. That’s less than the OECD average of 3.7.

It was even less than the United States at 2.7 but equal to Japan at 2.6.

A Korea Development Institute (KDI) study earlier this month found that at least 22,000 additional doctors would be needed by 2050 for doctors to maintain the same workload as in 2019.

The KDI report noted that medical school enrollment has to increase by 5 percent every year, especially since demands for medical services are expected to spike due to the rapidly aging population.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]