Medical field and Korean gov't still at odds over healthcare reforms
- 4 years ago
전공의 병원 복귀했지만 의대생 86% 국시 거부... 정부 "구제책 없다"
Trainee doctors, who have been on strike since August 21st in protest against the government's medical reform plans,... returned to work on Tuesday.
But there remains something of an impasse between the government and those in the medical field.
Opposing the reforms, only 14-percent of medical students took Tuesday's state license exam.
Oh Jung-hee has the details.
Almost all of the 16-thousand interns and residents practicing at major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area returned to work on Tuesday, ending their 18-day strike.
However, a significant number of young doctors say... they may strike again if the government fails to help those who didn't take Tuesday's state medical licensing exam.
Among the three-thousand medical students who were supposed to take the exam, 86-percent refused...in protest against the government's healthcare reforms.
The government's stance remains firm, however, saying that there will be no further opportunities... as the exam had already been postponed by a week to encourage more applicants.
"The medical students refused to take the exam, so it is impossible for us to come up with more ways to save them and it's unreasonable for them to ask. We've already pushed the exam back by a week. Any additional measures could be seen as unfair."
Regarding concerns of a possible lack of licensed doctors in the coming years,... the government says:
"We will be working to adjust the workload among doctors. This will be by dividing certain tasks up that could be done by people other than doctors, temporarily recruiting additional doctors, and sending patients with light symptoms to medium and small-sized hospitals."
Back in July, the Korean government announced its healthcare reform plans, which included expanding medical school admission quotas by four-thousand over a 10-year period starting in 2022.
75-percent of the quota is fixed for those from rural areas.
But young doctors and medical students disagree,... saying distributing doctors to remote areas will happen automatically if medical charges are adjusted.
Seoul has put a halt to any further moves at this current time.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
Trainee doctors, who have been on strike since August 21st in protest against the government's medical reform plans,... returned to work on Tuesday.
But there remains something of an impasse between the government and those in the medical field.
Opposing the reforms, only 14-percent of medical students took Tuesday's state license exam.
Oh Jung-hee has the details.
Almost all of the 16-thousand interns and residents practicing at major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area returned to work on Tuesday, ending their 18-day strike.
However, a significant number of young doctors say... they may strike again if the government fails to help those who didn't take Tuesday's state medical licensing exam.
Among the three-thousand medical students who were supposed to take the exam, 86-percent refused...in protest against the government's healthcare reforms.
The government's stance remains firm, however, saying that there will be no further opportunities... as the exam had already been postponed by a week to encourage more applicants.
"The medical students refused to take the exam, so it is impossible for us to come up with more ways to save them and it's unreasonable for them to ask. We've already pushed the exam back by a week. Any additional measures could be seen as unfair."
Regarding concerns of a possible lack of licensed doctors in the coming years,... the government says:
"We will be working to adjust the workload among doctors. This will be by dividing certain tasks up that could be done by people other than doctors, temporarily recruiting additional doctors, and sending patients with light symptoms to medium and small-sized hospitals."
Back in July, the Korean government announced its healthcare reform plans, which included expanding medical school admission quotas by four-thousand over a 10-year period starting in 2022.
75-percent of the quota is fixed for those from rural areas.
But young doctors and medical students disagree,... saying distributing doctors to remote areas will happen automatically if medical charges are adjusted.
Seoul has put a halt to any further moves at this current time.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.