8 out of 10 doctors oppose medical school quota hike

(123rf)

Over 80 percent of doctors across the country oppose the government plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota, a survey showed Monday, with many of them saying that there are already enough medical staff in the country.

The Research Institute for Healthcare Policy, an affiliate of the Korean Medical Association, conducted a survey on 4,010 doctors across the country and found that 81.7 percent of the respondents are against the government drive to increase the number of physicians.

The South Korean government is planning to announce a policy to raise the medical school enrollment quota to address the doctor shortage issue in remote areas and essential medical service fields such as emergency medicine, trauma and oncology. It has been met with fierce opposition from those in the medical circles.

According to the most recent figures by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Korea has 2.6 practicing doctors per 1,000 people, considerably lower than the OECD average of 3.7 and only higher than Mexico's 2.5 among the member states.

The survey showed that the No. 1 reason for opposing the government policy was "because there are already enough doctors in the country," with 49.9 percent of the respondents saying so. It was followed by "the decrease in population will lead to a decreased need for medical treatment" at 16.3 percent, while 15 percent said "it will lead to a hike in medical fees," and 14.4 percent thought "the policy will lead to deteriorating quality of medical services."

Of the 733 doctors who welcomed the policy, 49 percent said "it is essential to address the shortage in the essential medical fields," while 24.4 percent said "it will help reduce the disparity in medical services between regions."

The government has also recommended medical schools outside the greater Seoul area -- where much of the country's population and infrastructure is concentrated -- to recruit more students from their respective regions. A little over half of the doctors in the survey, 51.5 percent, said they agree with such a policy.

In the survey, 62.2 opposed the government's plan to have doctors work in areas suffering from a shortage of medical services for a certain period of time in exchange for financial support.

On why they thought many doctors refrain from majoring in the fields that fall under essential medical services, 45.4 percent blamed "low medical fees," while 36 percent said it was due to a "lack of legal protection in case of medical malpractice."

"Expanding the enrollment quota of medical schools without proper planning can lead to decline in the quality of medical service and the increase of medical fees in the future ... (The government) must first address the issue of low medical fees for those in essential medical service fields, and reduce the liability of doctors after medical malpractice," the KMA said.

The survey also asked doctors about the recent hospital related problems in the country, such as emergency patients not being able to be admitted at emergency rooms due to lack of beds and staff and being forced to go to other hospitals. In order to address this, 36.2 percent of the respondents said "people with minor injuries should not be allowed to use the ER," while 27.5 percent voiced the need for an overhaul of the system that sorts and transports emergency patients.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)