Doctors must return to the negotiating table

The government softened its stance on trainee doctors in general hospitals on collective walkout since February by allowing hospitals to free those wishing to leave by accepting their resignations. Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said that the government lifted the three administrative orders issued in February barring hospital heads from accepting resignations and instead urges junior doctors to return to work and stay on duty.

Last month, heads of major hospitals advised the government to allow some choices for junior doctors, including leaving their hospital for other ones, instead of merely demanding them to return to duty. Hospitals will accept trainee doctors who returned to them and let go of others.

General hospitals have been running without trainee doctors for more than 100 days since they left their hospitals to protest the government’s plan to drastically increase the medical school admissions quota. The government ordered those junior doctors to immediately return to work and instructed large hospitals not to accept their resignations. But trainee doctors protested that the order violates the Constitutional provisions of banning forced labor and guaranteeing freedom to choose occupations. Due to the standoff between doctors and the government, general hospitals suffered a critical lack of doctors for a long time. As such a medical vacuum cannot continue, the government softened its hard-line position.

But we cannot know how many trainee doctors will return to their workplaces. When their resignations are accepted, young doctors will be free to find work in other hospitals or clinics in neighborhoods. Those who hesitated to return to their hospital out of communal duty can return freely now.

The walkouts by thousands of trainee doctors have also shed light on their harsh working environment. The government has promised to ease junior doctors’ work load and prepare legal protections for young doctors in medical accidents. Health Minister Cho accepted the responsibility of the government for overseeing a good training environment for junior doctors. The government must listen to the voices of trainee doctors and implement practical improvements in their working conditions.

Doctors also must stop insisting that the government withdraw its plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota and engage in serious discussions with government authorities. If the Korea Medical Association, a major lobby group for doctors, pushes for a sympathy walkout by senior doctors and medical professors, it would betray the hopes of patients desperately waiting for the normalization of the medical system. Doctors must return to the negotiating table to work out a compromise before it’s too late.