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Gov't considers negotiating med school admission quota

Published: 18 Mar. 2024, 18:11 Updated: 18 Mar. 2024, 19:05

LEE SOO-JUNG
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President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with a doctor at Asan Medical Center in southern Seoul on Monday before meeting with medical professionals and the hospital director on the same day. Yoon's visit marks the first time that he has visited a hospital since the announcement of the medical school admissions quota increase last month. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday urgently called on the medical sector to “enter talks” with the government, asking them to trust authorities amid continuing disarray between health care professionals and the authorities.

“It would have been [mutually] satisfactory for both parties if the admission quota hike was carried out gradually, as some have suggested,” Yoon said during his visit to Asan Medical Center in Seoul on the same day. “However, now it is too late because previous governments refrained from making decisions about expanding the medical college admission quota due to political risks.”

The senior presidential secretary for social policy said Monday that the government is “open to dialogue” on the issue of deciding how many spots to add. “The government will discuss any matters related to the admission quota increase,” said Jang Sang-yoon, the presidential secretary, during his appearance on a CBS radio show on the same day.

When asked whether the government is prepared to partially concede on its planned 2,000-slot increase in the annual admission quota through dialogue with medical professionals, Jang responded, “We are open to the suggestion.”

Jang's words suggest the possibility of the government may downscale the number of spots it plans to add to upcoming medical school admissions.

“Medical professionals have been suggesting numbers like 350 and 500 concerning the increase in quota. However, there should be substantive evidence [to supporting these numbers],” Jang said, adding that the presidential administration's approach is to “explain and persuade medical professionals with scientific and logical evidence regarding why the government wants a 2,000-slot expansion.”

But a day earlier, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the 2,000-seat increase was “nonnegotiable,” maintaining a hard-line approach. He added that the number was drawn scientifically.

“Without the enrollment quota increase, the public health insurance fee people will have to pay will increase by threefold or fourfold. This is not idealistic,” Park said.

“If there are no doctors left in the hospitals because of the walkout, [the government] will transport people on a charter flight to enable them to receive treatment [overseas],” he added. “Medical professionals should be concerned about the situation faced by health care front lines if medical professors also leave hospitals.”

As of Friday, faculties from 20 medical schools nationwide have agreed to “voluntarily submit their resignations starting March 25.”

“Medical professors hold dual positions as faculty and physicians. Their mass departure from hospitals violates their duties as doctors under the Medical Service Act,” Jang said on Monday. “The authorities will respond to such cases according to the rule of law.”

A medical professional and a patient with a guardian pass a crosswalk in front of a general hospital in Seoul on Monday. [NEWS1]

According to the Health Ministry on Monday, a government-run reporting center has received a total of 1,414 reports of damages related to the walkout and classified 509 as actual damages since its operation began on Feb. 19.

Delays in surgeries accounted for 68.8 percent of all recognized damages, followed by appointment cancellations, which took up 17.2 percent.

Of all medical fields, damages tied to surgeries were the most significant, taking up 38.7 percent.

Amid the continuing standstill between the medical sector and the government, authorities are pitching ideas to restructure compensation schemes for hospitals and medical professionals.

The Health Ministry on Monday also announced new investment of over 10 trillion won ($7.4 billion) into essential medical fields, such as high-risk surgeries, pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine by 2028.

Over 5 trillion won of the total will be directed toward medical departments facing labor shortages due to high occupational risk and labor intensity, such as neurology, cardiology and replantation surgery.

The Health Ministry said it will pour more than 3 trillion won into pediatrics and obstetrics, which are both sectors that current junior doctors are avoiding due to the country’s low fertility rate.

It will also provide 2 trillion won in subsidies to medical centers that coordinate and build networks with other hospitals to bolster their treatment capabilities in fields like neurocardiology and pediatric care to serve critically ill patients.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]