Government issues ultimatum to trainee doctors to return to work by the end of this month

Medical school graduates across the country are abandoning their internship appointments following a series of protests against the expansion of medical schools. Graduates pose for a commemorative photo at the degree conferral ceremony of Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul on Sept. 26. By Lee Jun-heon Reporter

The government has issued a de facto ultimatum to trainee doctors who have left hospitals in protest against the government’s policy on increasing the number of medical students, telling them to return to work by February 29. Some of the full-time doctors who are filling the vacancies left by the trainees are also expected to leave the hospitals starting next month, creating a disruption in the country’s medical services that could grow rapidly if the situation is not resolved by this week.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min presided over a government meeting on the 26th and said, "If the doctors who took collective action return to the hospitals they left by the 29th, we will not hold them accountable." According to the National Disaster Prevention and Countermeasures Headquarters, as of 7 p.m. on February 23, 9,006 doctors (72.3percent) had left their workplaces at 100 training hospitals nationwide. The number of trainee doctors who submitted their resignation reached 10,034 (80.5 percent).

The government plans to take administrative and judicial measures, including suspension of licenses, against doctors who miss the deadline to return to work. "From March, it is inevitable that those who do not return to work will be suspended for at least three months in accordance with the law and principles, and related judicial proceedings will be conducted," said Park Min-soo, vice minister of the Health and Welfare Ministry. Administrative measures can be taken as early as March 4.

Some speculate that the government has set a deadline of the 29th as full-time doctors are showing signs of leaving their workplace. At Chosun University Hospital, more than 10 full-time doctors in their fourth year of service who were about to renew their contracts submitted their resignations. Full-time doctors are doctors who train and research in subspecialties after completing their medical training and obtaining specialist qualifications. Currently, the vacancies of trainee doctors are filled by professors and full-time doctors. If the movement of full-time doctors to give up new appointments and reappointments spreads, it is expected that there will be bigger disruption in surgeries for those who are seriously ill and emergency care in large hospitals.

The medical disruption is getting worse. On the 25th in South Gyeongsang Province, a newborn baby who showed symptoms of dyspnea could not be transferred to a university hospital for about three hours. In some large hospitals in Seoul, surgeries have been reduced by as much as 50 percent.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.