Rural hospitals face crisis as workloads prompt pediatricians to flee

A child healthcare crisis looms after several pediatricians told their hospitals in Gangwon and North Chungcheong.

Patients and their families wait to see a pediatric doctor at Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu in October 2023. [YONHAP]

A child healthcare crisis looms after several pediatricians told their hospitals in Gangwon and North Chungcheong that they want to leave.

Earlier this month, four of Kangwon National University Hospital's pediatricians said they intended to resign. They have not yet submitted their formal resignations, according to the hospital.

The doctors who wish to resign specialize in children's asthma, allergies, urinary tract infections, diabetes and heart diseases.

Upon their departure, children in northern Gangwon might face trouble receiving timely and urgent treatment. Also, severely ill children in the region could be left out.

"The hospital has been experiencing difficulties in recruiting pediatric residents every year as [medical students] avoid majoring in pediatrics nowadays," an official from the Kangwon National University Hospital said.

"Professors have been taking night shifts because the hospital is short-handed with fewer [young] pediatricians."

The official added that the heavy workload might have fueled their decision to leave the hospital.

As of January, two pediatric residents were working at the hospital — one in their third year and the other in their fourth. However, by March, only one resident will remain at the hospital.

On Monday, the hospital released its recruitment announcement.

However, with the country struggling to find pediatricians, nobody can guarantee that the announcement will work.

"The hospital seriously worries about a potential medical crisis — a situation where it fails to provide adequate patient care," the official said. "We will bring up measures to prevent such happenings."

People shared their worries on online forums once news of the four pediatricians got out. Users complained that it's getting harder day by day to see pediatricians, asking, "Where should the parents and children go now?"

North Chungcheong faces a similar situation.

One of the two pediatric residents on the night shift at Chungbuk National University Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) recently revealed his intent to leave.

The unit initially had two pediatric professors and three residents.

But, over the last year, one resident called it quits and left the hospital.

If the hospital loses another resident, the remaining three professionals must care for the whole unit.

The hospital is trying to persuade the resident who wants to leave to stay.

A pediatric clinic in Seoul discontinued its business in May 2023. A notice saying the clinic is permanently shut down is attached to the door. [YONHAP]

The medical industry says the trend of young doctors avoiding pediatrics is getting worse. It attributes the phenomenon to low medical fees charged to patients, difficulties in handling children and their parents and Korea's plummeting birthrate.

Although the government planned to have 206 new pediatric residents this year, only 54 seats were taken, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data.

The trend is more noticeable in rural areas.

The greater Seoul area secured 44 out of its quota of 121 residents, fulfilling 36.3 percent of its target.

However, rural areas only secured 10 residents out of its quota of 85, achieving only 11.7 percent of its target.

Kangwon National University Hospital has recruited only three pediatric residents since 2018, despite its effort to bring in more professionals.

The Korean Pediatric Society forewarned about a darker future, saying that hospitals this year "are likely to downsize their capacity of admitting child patients for hospitalizations."

The organization said that the understaffing problem will persist and be aggravated next year when the residents in their third and fourth years finish their courses.

"After an infant died at the Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital's NICU, medical students who wanted to major in pediatrics dropped significantly," a medical industry insider said.

"With no young residents in pediatric departments, professors in their 50s and 60s have no choice but to work on night shifts. With this cycle, they feel exhausted. Thus, they turned to another option — opening private clinics."

BY CHOI JONG-KWON, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]