On the 25th, the government launched the Presidential Special Committee on Medical Reform and held its first meeting without the participation of medical groups. On the same day, professors at major medical schools across the country began to effectively resign, and some university hospitals will close once a week starting next week. The legislative conflict surrounding the expansion of medical school seats is falling further into chaos, with no solution found. According to the medical community on the 24th, professors from about 20 universities and hospitals across the country participating in the National Medical School Professor Emergency Response Committee (Jeonuibi) will begin a resignation procession on the 25th. Jeon Eui-bi said, “We reaffirmed that the resignation will begin on the 25th as scheduled,” and added, “We plan to proceed regardless of the government’s resignation acceptance policy.”
In response to this, Park Min-soo, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, “It cannot be said that resignations take effect uniformly,” and “According to education authorities, there are currently no cases in which a resignation letter has been officially received at the university headquarters and is expected to be accepted.” .
In addition, Jeonuibi decided to go on a mass vacation on one day next week. Jeon Eui-bi said, “Professors’ minds and bodies have reached their limits due to working more than 70 to 100 hours a week,” and added, “It has been decided that each university will autonomously decide the date of mass vacation.” The Emergency Response Committee of the Faculty Council of Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital also resolved to suspend outpatient treatment and surgery once a week from now on. The Emergency Response Committee of the University of Ulsan Medical School Faculty Council, which includes professors from Asan Medical Center in Seoul, announced that resignations will begin on the 25th, but professors who cannot quit immediately will take a break once a week from the 3rd of next month. In particular, professors at the University of Ulsan’s medical school decided to take childcare leave, saying they were experiencing hardships due to increased medical treatment and on-call duties due to the prolonged medical gap.
The hospital was thrown into chaos due to the professors’ resignation and decision to take a break. An official from a large hospital said, “It is not easy to determine the scale of participation because professors’ resignations occur individually,” and “it is difficult to estimate the scale of reductions in surgery and medical treatment.”
The government will hold the first meeting of the Medical Reform Special Committee on the morning of the 25th as scheduled. The Medical Reform Special Committee consists of government members from six ministries and 20 private members. As private members, 10 people recommended by provider groups, including medical groups, 5 people recommended by consumer groups, and 5 experts in each field were invited to participate, but the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Medical Residents Association declared that they would not participate.
Minister of Public Administration and Security Lee Sang-min presided over a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) for collective action of doctors on the 24th and urged, “I hope that medical groups will also participate in the special committee and consider reasonable opinions and alternatives together.” However, the government plans to begin discussions on medical reform even if the medical community does not participate in the Special Committee on Medical Reform. An official from the President’s Office said, “The special committee is currently composed of 27 members, and there are two positions for which the list has not been confirmed: the Korean Medical Association and the Daejeon Medical Association.” He added, “With the remaining 25 members confirmed, we cannot wait forever, so first, ) will be launched to discuss urgent medical reform tasks.” The Emergency Response Committee of the Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital Faculty Council proposed to the government that the number of doctors be estimated again, but the government took a negative stance.
The Emergency Response Committee of the Faculty Council of Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital announced at a press conference held at Seoul National University College of Medicine on this day that they will begin a contest for research and publication papers to scientifically estimate the number of doctors. Until the results of the study are published, the push to expand medical schools should be put on hold, and a scientific estimate of the number of doctors to be reflected in the expansion of medical schools for the 2026 school year should be conducted and the number of medical school students should be determined based on this. The emergency committee emphasized that even if the result is greater than the 2,000-person increase, it should be acceptable if the result is objectively and scientifically estimated.
Chairman Bang explained, “The third emergency committee will present policy research to improve the medical system and begin efforts to end the situation.”
However, the government stated in a briefing at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters that it is difficult to wait for a research contest and the announcement of research results, and that postponing policy implementation is also realistically difficult.
Vice Minister Park expressed a negative opinion, saying, “It is unclear when the results will be released, and there are interests of the students and parents in charge of the entrance exam.” Vice Minister Park said, “Practically, the end of April is the time when schools at each level revise and submit their school regulations, but before that, new decisions can only be made if a single plan based on scientific evidence comes out.” (Estimated number of doctors at Seoul National University School of Medicine) “I’m not sure if the proposal will be verified before then,” he said. “There needs to be an estimated verification and an alternative.”
[강민호 기자]
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