[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Korean Medical Association (KMA) announced on the 30th that it will decide on the direction of the struggle to resolve the issue of medical students retaking the national medical examination at the first meeting of the Pan-Medical Community Struggle Committee (Pan-Struggle Committee) next week.
On the same day, the KMA held an emergency joint meeting to discuss countermeasures for medical students taking the national exam and reached this conclusion. About 30 people attended the meeting, including KMA President Choi Dae-jip, KMA standing directors and delegates, city and provincial medical associations, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, the Korean Intern Resident Association (Daejeonhyeop), and representatives of the Korean Medical College and Medical School Student Association (Uidae-hyeop).
Originally, the KMA was expected to hold a Pan-Struggle Committee meeting on the day to decide the direction of the struggle. However, it was converted into an emergency joint meeting and only concluded to submit the agenda for government struggle to resolve the doctors' national exam issue at next week's Pan-Struggle Committee meeting.
It was reported that the direction of the "non-compromising nationwide struggle" mentioned by President Choi Dae-jip on Facebook the previous day was not decided during the meeting.
President Choi criticized, "Since the medical-government agreement on September 4, the government, which has been lukewarm in implementing the agreement, recently requested the formation of a medical-government consultative body but is avoiding responsibility regarding the doctors' national medical examination issue."
He added, "The doctors' national medical examination must be resolved first according to the spirit of the agreement. If the ruling party and government have no will to resolve this, the medical community must respond with a strong struggle again."
A representative of the national exam candidates also attended the meeting to inform about the situation and stance of medical students. Lee Ji-hoon, the representative of the exam candidates, stated that the current situation is the result of collective action to correct flawed medical policies. He also expressed that medical students do not want the national exam issue to hinder the formation of the medical-government consultative body or become a factor in negotiation advantages or disadvantages.
Internal communication issues revealed during the previous collective action by the medical community were also pointed out. Han Jae-min, president of Daejeonhyeop, said, "Regarding the national exam issue, it is important to make efforts to sufficiently reflect the voices of medical students. We expect a decision-making structure where the voices of young doctors and prospective doctors can be reflected."
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