Medical chaos looms as 13,000 trainee doctors near mass walkout

Medical staff at the large hospital in Seoul on Monday [YONHAP]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Monday ordered all trainee doctors to continue providing their medical services ahead of their mass strike the following day in protest of the government’s plan to hike the enrollment quota at medical schools.

All trainee doctors at five major hospitals had announced their resignation submissions by Monday evening and will not attend any medical duties as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), an occupational organization consisting of trainee doctors.

The five hospitals are Asan Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severance Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital.

When the resignation becomes effective, around 13,000 trainee doctors will leave hospitals at once, resulting in medical chaos.

As of 6 p.m. Friday, the ministry said that a total of 715 trainee doctors from 23 hospitals nationwide have filed for their resignations.

While a single day is left before the nationwide collective action, the trainee doctors from certain medical departments at Severance Hospital decided to go on strike a day earlier than their colleagues, making their walkout effective from Monday.

A pediatric trainee doctor at the hospital earlier disclosed that they will go on strike starting at 7 a.m. on Monday after submitting resignation letters written by the department's first to third-year trainee doctors.

The hospital has been rescheduling patients’ surgeries expecting a collective action.

Medical school students also decided to partake in such a movement by taking leave of absence from their schools. The decision was made last Thursday and will be effective from Tuesday.

The government has been scrambling for solutions to mitigate expected chaos in medical services.

“The public health care and medical institutions will operate on the emergency medical system upon the collective strike,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during an emergency meeting held Monday morning.

He added that the government will fully allow telemedicine services during the strike to minimize inconveniences and difficulties that patients might experience.

According to government and medical sources, the ministry has ordered major hospitals to report daily work records of the trainee doctors to prevent a situation where they fake or falsely declare their return to the hospital.

The government retains its position to strictly penalize the trainee doctors who disobey the authority’s return order, adding that the order remains valid even after their actual return.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG, CHO JUNG-WOO, KIM JI-HYE [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]