Health

South Korea doctor crisis in deadlock 1 month into strike

Seoul, Mar 20 (EFE).- South Korea’s government remained immovable Wednesday in its plan to increase the number of places in medical schools, a plan that led to a strike by resident doctors and has been ongoing for a month.

The conservative leadership of President Yoon Suk-yeol announced Wednesday that it had already assigned the new places to different universities.

According to the education ministry, 82 percent of these new places have been distributed to 27 universities outside the capital region, an area where just over half of the country lives and home to many of the country’s large hospitals, causing other provinces to lack investment, prestigious centers and medical personnel.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday that 2,000 is the minimum number of additional positions per year required to try to solve the shortage of doctors in South Korea.

The message appeared confusing after a representative of the Presidential Office said this week that the government, which has already held meetings with the medical community, was willing to negotiate the quota, although the health ministry denied this.

The government said Wednesday that it would not give up its position despite the professors of many medical schools having decided, due to the lack of progress in the negotiations, to also abandon their jobs next week, complicating the health system’s situation even further.

More than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 intern doctors have joined the strike that started on Feb. 20 to protest the government’s measures.

Since resident doctors make up about 40 percent of the staff at large hospitals in Seoul, the largest in the country, these medical centers are being forced to suspend around half of scheduled surgeries, refer patients to emergencies or interrupt treatments.

The government said it is necessary to increase the annual places in medical schools by 2,000 – currently at 3,058 per year – to address the shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas and in areas such as pediatrics, obstetrics or cardiothoracic surgery.

But doctors say the decision has been unilateral and that the increase should be 350 places so it does not affect the quality of training and service and that it should be invested in certain areas and reinforce the legal protection of health workers. EFE

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