One month after announcing the withdrawal of administrative measures for medical specialists returning to work
Only 91 medical specialists returned in a month
Demand for “lifting administrative measures for non-returning specialists”
University hospitals in a dilemma over handling resignation letters ,
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Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hyung (left) and Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kang Jung-ae having a conversation at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul on the 2nd. /Presidential Communication Team,
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, ‘ The government is expected to announce its measures regarding non-returning medical specialists next week. Although it has been a month since various administrative orders were withdrawn for medical specialists who left hospitals in protest against the medical school expansion policy, the number of specialists who have returned is minimal.’,
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, ‘The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated on the 7th that it will hold a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Government Seoul Complex on the 8th, and the results of the meeting will be announced by Minister Cho Kyu-hyung. It is likely that the announcement will involve response measures for the medical specialists.’,
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, ‘On the 4th of last month, the government announced an exit strategy that revokes the license suspension administrative measures for medical specialists returning to work, allowing hospitals to handle the resignation letters of specialists who choose not to return. While the policy was aimed at encouraging the return of specialists, it has had minimal effect.’,
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, ‘According to the Ministry of Welfare and Health, out of 13,356 medical specialists at 211 training hospitals, only 1,104 (approximately 8%) are currently working. This reflects an increase of 91 specialists since the 3rd of last month. The number of hospitals that have handled the resignation letters of specialists is also very small. When considering only residents, as of the 4th, only 61 cases of resignation were processed out of all training hospitals (0.58%). This indicates that over 10,000 specialists still need to process their resignations.’,
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, ‘Hospital directors are expressing concerns about handling resignation letters. There is also a lack of internal consensus within hospitals, and it is difficult to reach out to specialists to confirm their intentions to resign or return. Some hospitals have sent notices to their affiliated specialists asking them to make a decision on resigning or returning.’,
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, ‘Training hospitals are waiting for clear incentives for specialists to return. The medical community is demanding the withdrawal of administrative measures against specialists regardless of their return status. They are also requesting a relaxation of regulations that would allow specialists whose resignation letters have been processed to immediately apply to other hospitals for the same residency and the same medical specialty.’,
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, ‘Under the current regulations for specialist training, a specialist who resigned in a given year cannot return to the same medical specialty and the same residency until the second half of the next year. If this regulation is applied, specialists whose resignation letters have been handled in this instance would need to wait until the second half of next year for recruitment. The government is considering ways to relax this regulation.’,
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, ‘The government is expected to accelerate the transition to specialist-centered hospitals while encouraging the return of specialists. The goal is to reduce the proportion of specialists in university hospitals from the current 40% to around 20%. There are also plans to revise the evaluation system focusing on patient groups suitable for hospital grades for major comprehensive hospitals.’,
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, ‘For specialists continuing their training, the training system will be strengthened. The government discussed enhancing training programs for developing clinical skills, designating mentoring specialists, and providing national financial support for training costs at the Medical Reform Special Committee meeting on the 5th. Regarding reducing working hours, the focus will be on securing educational time by positioning specialists as “trainees.”‘,
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