SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) — Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong said Sunday that the government will accelerate its policy to increase the number of medical students, while issuing warnings against doctors in difficult practices who attacked their colleagues who returned to South Korea. a job.
Zhu said at the government response meeting that it was completely unacceptable to target people who work “day and night” in the medical field and force them into collective action.
He added: “We will investigate the matter thoroughly and take strict measures.”
Allegations have recently emerged that some trainee doctors revealed the names and information of their colleagues who did not participate in the strike and carried out cyberbullying and verbal harassment against them when they returned to work.
Zhou also stressed that the government is ready to engage in dialogue with the medical community to resolve the thorny problem.
Major public hospitals in South Korea have continued to report delays and cancellations of surgeries, with mass resignations of trainee doctors and departures from the medical field continuing, with no sign of a solution in sight.
More than 90 percent of the 13,000 trainees and residents have been on strike due to mass resignations for almost three weeks, in protest against the government's decision to increase the enrollment quota for medical schools by 2,000 places.
The government took steps to suspend the medical licenses of striking trainee doctors, urging them to return to work.
Since Tuesday, the government has been sending documents to trainee doctors who have not yet returned to their jobs, which contain advance notice of the suspension of their medical licenses.
The document includes details about the government's return to work order and warns that the licenses of those who do not submit a response by March 25 could be suspended in accordance with relevant procedures.
Trainee doctors can file administrative complaints against the government if their licenses are suspended.
The government's tough stance on punishing striking trainee doctors appears to have encouraged some medical school professors to quit their jobs and join the young doctors' collective action.
Some professors have already resigned in protest against their universities' decision to accept the government's plan to expand enrollment rates in medical schools.
A group of medical professors met on Saturday to discuss ways to break the deadlock in the negotiations, but failed to reach a result.
In addition, to compensate for the shortage of medical staff, health authorities began officially allowing nurses in major hospitals to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and administer medications to emergency patients.
As military hospital emergency units open to the public, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a pilot program late last month that allows nurses to take over specific responsibilities performed by doctors, in a limited capacity.
The teamwork of trainee doctors, who play a vital role in assisting with surgeries and emergency services in major public hospitals, has led to widespread cancellations and delays of surgeries and emergency medical treatments across the country.
Critics say the striking doctors oppose the government's plan for fear that adding more doctors will increase competition and lower income.
The Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country's largest doctors' lobby group, asserts that the government's plan will not solve fundamental problems in the medical system, including a shortage of doctors in fields considered the worst paid, as well as high concentration. For doctors in urban areas.
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