Annual Salary of 360 Million Won but '0 Applicants'... No Doctors in Rural Areas

Sancheong-gun Health Medical Center Internal Medicine Specialist
Vacant for 10 Months Since April Last Year
"Seems Avoided Due to Salary and Living Conditions"

Gyeongnam Sancheong County Health and Medical Center (Sancheong Medical Center) has been trying to hire an internal medicine specialist three times since last year, but there have been no applicants or even inquiries.

According to Sancheong County on the 18th, the center posted the first recruitment announcement from November 23 to December 6 last year and the second from December 9 to 29 to hire an internal medicine specialist. However, there were no applicants, and a third announcement was made from the 2nd to the 25th of this month, but there are still no inquiry calls.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The hiring conditions include an annual salary of 360 million KRW with a two-year contract, which can be extended. The medical center explains that the monthly salary of 30 million KRW is not low compared to 'pay doctors' at public medical centers in other regions. Medical centers in Chungnam Cheongyang, Gyeonggi Yeoncheon, and Gangwon Pyeongchang and Hwacheon, which have internal medicine departments, reportedly offer monthly salaries ranging from 16 million to 23 million KRW.

Currently, since the public health doctor who served in a medically underserved area instead of military service was discharged in April last year, the internal medicine specialist position at Sancheong Medical Center has been vacant for 10 months. As a result, it is difficult to provide specialized treatment for severe diabetes and hypertension, and half of the average 150 patients visiting the medical center daily are internal medicine patients.

The Sancheong County Health and Medical Center in Gyeongnam has attempted to recruit internal medicine specialists three times since last year, but there were no applicants.
[Image provided by Sancheong County]

Sancheong Health and Medical Center is staffed by one director and seven public health doctors serving in medically underserved areas in lieu of military service. Although it offers general hospital-level treatment and inpatient care, attracting many local residents, proper treatment has not been available since April last year due to the absence of an internal medicine specialist.

Sancheong County analyzes that the hiring conditions do not meet the annual salary levels of general hospitals in small and medium-sized cities, and applicants are reluctant due to educational and living environment issues. A Sancheong County official stated, "If there are no applicants for this year's recruitment announcement, we will prepare measures such as increasing the salary to prevent a gap in medical care for local residents and proceed with recruitment again."