The months-long standoff between the government and doctors is expected to worsen as medical school professors resign en masse, South Korean officials said on March 24.
According to the National Council of Medical School Professors, professors at medical schools nationwide will begin submitting their resignations on March 25 and will reduce their weekly working hours to 52 hours by adjusting surgeries and other medical treatments.
The cuts to patient care staff will begin next week, as the government suspends the licenses of striking trainee doctors, Yonhap reported.
Starting April 1, hospitals will also reduce outpatient services to focus on critically ill patients and emergency care. Professors have called on the government to withdraw plans to sharply increase medical school enrollment and move toward dialogue. However, the South Korean government has said it will act “in accordance with the law and principles,” stressing that the plan to add 2,000 medical students is not up for negotiation.
More than 90 percent of South Korea's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations for about a month to protest the government's decision to increase the number of medical school places by 2,000 from the current 3,058. The decision to increase the intake starting in 2025 is to strengthen the medical workforce in remote areas.
HUY QUOC
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