Doctors must cooperate with the quota increase

The government is raising the enrollment quota for medical schools by 2,000 from next year. It would be the first increase in the quota that was capped at 3,058 from 2006 in nearly two decades. The Korea Medical Association (KMA), representing licensed doctors, and medical students have threatened to hold strike against the plan. A body standing for resident doctors said that 86 percent of its members will join the collective action if the plan is not withdrawn.

Doctors are most aware of the harsh reality of our medical community. Core departments and local medical care are crumbing due to a lack of doctors. Pediatrics departments are crowded with children and parents due to the small number. Emergency patients die on the road because they cannot find an emergency room. Bolstering the supply through an increased quota is essential to alleviate the bottleneck and shortfall. Doctors claim that increasing the quota alone cannot solve the deficiency in some departments and rural areas, but the majority — 89.3 percent — want the quota to increase.

The KMA has been demanding better compensation for physicians in primary-care divisions and an easing of legal burdens for doctors in return for accepting the quota increase. The government worked hard to find a reasonable compromise. Since the government last October announced a plan to increase medical school quota by more than 1,000, it and the medical association held 27 meetings.

The government agreed to comply with most of the medical community’s demands. It proposed to sharply increase insurance payouts to primary-care departments and set insurance fees based on the complexity, risk and urgency in medical care. President Yoon Suk Yeol pointed out that pediatric applicants sharply fell after the death of an infant at Ewha Woman’s University Mokdong Hospital in 2017 that led to the arrest of the medical staff.

The government under former President Moon Jae-in in 2020 proposed to increase medical school enrollment quota by 400 annually across 10 years. It had to scrap the plan in the face of strikes by doctors in training during the Covid-19 pandemic. Doctors are threatening with a strike once again. But their action cannot earn justice or sympathy this time. They will only face public scorn and disadvantage if they press on with selfish interests.

The government could worsen the problem if it does not plan the quota increase thoroughly. The quota increase could worsen the bias towards medical school and cause a shortage of talents in the science and technology field. The wider opening could bring down the standard of medical schools and increase insurance cost. Physicians must join heads to find a reasonable solution to save primary-care departments and rural medical infrastructure instead of fighting at the expense of the lives of patients under their care.