The South Korean government has said that it will send its military and community doctors to hospitals within the next few days as part of emergency measures to bolster the healthcare system after a mass walkout by trainee doctors, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said on Wednesday.
Han also pleaded with the young doctors to go back to work by Thursday, February 29 deadline set by the government, and had said that the authorities would listen to their concerns.
The minister told a government meeting:
“The government completely understands that trainee doctors have grave concerns about the work environment and future career, and we are looking for measures to improve this from a number of perspectives.”
Two-thirds of the nation’s residents and intern doctors had stopped work to protest the government’s plan to increase the number of students admitted to medical school in an attempt to address what authorities say is a shortage of doctors.
Meanwhile, the young doctors who are protesting have said that the government should first address their pay and working conditions before trying to grow the number of physicians.
The government has warned that it could postpone the licenses of the doctors who do not comply with the back-to-work order.
“As from next month, doctors who are serving in the military and at local clinics in lieu of compulsory military service will be assigned to hospitals affected by the walkout, Han said.
About 9,000 trainee doctors have joined the protest, disrupting services at large hospitals which were forced to reject some patients and cancel surgeries and procedures.
Senior doctors and private practitioners have also been averse to the government’s plan to increase new medical school admissions, saying the medical community was not properly consulted.
President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that the plan, which has extensive support among Koreans, was not up for discussion and that there was no justification for doctors to leave their jobs.
