Patience is needed to ease patients’ pain

Their war of nerves must stop here.

A glimmer of hope has erupted over the deadlocked dialogue between the medical community and the government over the explosive medical school enrollment quota increase. But such hopes were dashed by doctors’ excessive preconditions for the resumption of the talks and the government’s firm stance against the preconditions. Despite the government’s positive response to the governing party’s proposal of the establishment of a four-party consultative body — including the two major parties, doctors and the government — the medical circles’ reaction is disappointing.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) wants to start dialogue if the government first agrees to rediscuss the 2025 quota. If the government reverses its earlier decision to increase the quota for next year, it will certainly cause enormous confusion for college admissions this year. Such preconditions are nothing but a refusal to talk with the government.

To make matters worse, the Gyenggi branch of the KMA wants an apology from President Yoon Suk Yeol and demands he “immediately” dismiss the health minister and vice minister as well as the senior presidential secretary for social affairs. But such a hard-line position only helps worsen the ongoing medical crisis.

If the government’s push for a quota hike triggered a crisis for public health and raising doctors, the responsibility should be shared by the medical community. Since the massive walkout by trainee doctors in February, a number of patients died due to the medical vacuum. Medical students are also in limbo after their refusal of classes at school. If a consultative body is formed among the four parties, it can help find a breakthrough.

The government must refrain from taking an emotional approach. The office of the prime minister released a statement warning that if the medical community does not present a rational alternative, a reconsideration of the issue is impossible. In the meantime, the conditions of emergency rooms are getting worse. Despite the deployment of military doctors, they are being kicked out of emergency rooms due to a lack of expertise in emergency treatment. The government said that even if a medical accident occurs, military doctors will be exempted from accountability. But how long can such a quick fix last?

If the government and the medical community lose a chance to meet at the negotiating table, they will be denounced. Their war of nerves must stop here. Fortunately, the chairman of the emergency committee of Seoul National University and its hospital welcomed the proposal of the quadrilateral body for talks. The time has come to end people’s pain over the past seven months.