Thousands of doctors are on strike in South Korea: what are they demanding?

Junior doctors put the health system under strain amid a strike against government plans, which seeks to reform the training process to allow more students to enter medical careers, a situation which could hamper the training of medical staff. May affect quality and service.

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This Tuesday, February 27, the strike by doctors in training in South Korea is seven days old and both the health workers sector and the government cannot reach any agreement.

The protests are a form of reaction from professionals who oppose plans by authorities to expand places at their training academies to accommodate more medical students.

According to the South Korean Ministry of Health, About 8,940 intern doctors walked off their jobs in protest, representing 72.7% of the professionals. Those who work in the country. This disruption in operations at major hospitals threatens to affect the general medical care of the country.

This comes in the wake of government threats that it will suspend licenses and initiate legal action from March if professionals do not return to work. The Korean Medical Association (KMA), which represents about 140,000 doctors, reiterated that it would fight “to the end.” So that the seats in the faculty do not increase, a demonstration has been called in which about 20,000 people are expected to be present in Seoul on March 3.

The executive already has specific teams within the Attorney General’s Office and the police to begin investigating possible crimes starting next Friday, adding to the legal figure of personnel desertion.

Difference between government and doctors!

The young doctors claim that pay and working conditions should be a priority rather than the government’s plan to increase the number of doctors. For their part, officials say more workers are needed to expand health care services in some areas and meet the growing demands of one of the world’s fastest-aging societies.

project of The executive wants to raise the annual limit for admission to South Korea’s medical academies by adding about 2,000 new placesto the present 3,058, thus increasing it to just over 5,000.

Doctors in training attend a meeting at the Korean Medical Association building in Seoul, South Korea on February 20, 2024.
Doctors in training attend a meeting at the Korean Medical Association building in Seoul, South Korea on February 20, 2024. AP – Ahn Young-joon

With this plan, South Korean officials want to add 10,000 doctors across the country by 2035, and thus combat the rapid aging of the population.

officers maintain it South Korea has 2.1 doctors per 1,000 residents, well below the developed world average of 3.7.According to information cited by AP.

According to complaints from resident doctors, universities are not in a position to support the rapidly increasing number of medical students.

Meanwhile, he believes that the large number of medical students recruited with this new government project will try to work in more popular and well-paid areas of medicine such as plastic surgery and dermatology. So the long-standing shortage of doctors in essential but low-paid areas such as pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency departments will remain unchanged.

What is the South Korean health system like currently?

According to official government estimates repeated by Reuters, Striking doctors represent only a fraction of South Korea’s 100,000 doctors, but may represent more than 40% of the staff at large university hospitals., And most are dedicated to critical functions in emergency rooms, intensive care units, and operating rooms.

Since Feb. 20, when the strike began, the number of new patients at South Korea’s major hospitals has fallen 24%, with half of scheduled surgeries being canceled.

According to local press, many patients are referred to other centres, meaning treatment can take several hours.

Due to the protests, the government extended the working hours of public medical institutions, opened emergency rooms in military hospitals, and gave legal protection to nurses to perform some medical procedures normally performed by doctors.

Can the South Korean state legitimize the protests?

The government’s threat to take legal action against doctors came after the death of a woman aged between 80 and 90 who died of cardiac arrest in the city of Daejeon (140 kilometers south of Seoul) last Friday.

The patient went through seven hospitals that refused to treat her, and when the ambulance reached the medical center that agreed to treat her, 53 minutes after taking her to her home, the woman was already dead.

A patient is at Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea on February 21, 2024.
A patient is at Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea on February 21, 2024. Reuters – Soo-hyeon Kim

This Monday, February 27, Health Vice Minister Park Min-soo said that the administration would not take any disciplinary action against the striking doctors if they returned to work before Thursday. However, he warned that anyone who fails to meet the deadline will have their medical license suspended for at least three months and face additional legal measures such as investigation and charges by prosecutors.

According to the AP, South Korea’s medical law gives the government the power to issue orders for doctors to return to work if there is a serious risk to public health. Those who refuse to comply with such orders can have their medical license suspended for up to one year and face up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won (about $22,500). Those sentenced to prison will have their medical licenses taken away.

With EFE, Reuters and AP

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