KMA: "Creating an Environment for Essential and Public Healthcare Influx Is Key, Not Increasing Number of Doctors"

Rebuttal to the Kyungsillyeon Press Conference

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Recently, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) held a press conference to announce the results of an investigation into regional medical disparities and urged the establishment of new public medical schools and the expansion of medical school quotas. In response, the medical community expressed the opinion that "the core issue is to create an environment where doctors can smoothly enter essential and public medical fields."

Exterior view of the Korean Medical Association building in Ichon-dong. [Photo by Korean Medical Association]

On the 18th, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) issued a statement rebutting CCEJ's claims, saying they "reached a hasty conclusion without objective evidence."

The KMA pointed out that the number of doctors in South Korea is rapidly increasing, and the number of doctors per population is rising every year. The KMA stated, "According to population status and projections released by Statistics Korea, South Korea's population is expected to decrease from 52 million last year to 38 million in 20170. Meanwhile, the number of doctors is increasing rapidly by about 3,200 annually, and the number of citizens per doctor has steadily decreased from 641 in 2009 to 480 in 2020."

Furthermore, the KMA criticized the arbitrary interpretation of the concept of 'avoidable mortality rate' presented by CCEJ. Even when comparing the highest avoidable mortality rate in Chungbuk (46.95) with OECD countries, it ranks fifth, indicating that the quality of medical services is generally excellent. The KMA explained, "According to the 2021 OECD health statistics, South Korea's avoidable mortality rate is 42.0, the second lowest among 32 countries reporting statistics, following Switzerland (39.0), and the lowest among countries with populations over 10 million."

The KMA added, "If the number of doctors is increased recklessly without fundamental solutions to the issues of essential medical care and regional avoidance, the avoidance phenomenon in these fields will not be resolved, leading to a rapid increase in national medical expenses and posing a significant threat to the overall healthcare system in South Korea. The shortage of personnel in essential and public medical fields is not due to an overall lack of doctors but stems from structural problems such as the government's lack of proper doctor workforce supply policies and poor medical environments in vulnerable and regional areas."

The KMA emphasized, "Ignoring the fundamental reasons and simply increasing the total number of doctors or establishing new public medical schools because of shortages in specific fields or regions is a fragmented and irresponsible approach that cannot provide a fundamental solution." They stressed, "The alternative to preventing the collapse of essential medical care and resolving regional medical disparities is not increasing the number of doctors but creating incentives through strong administrative and financial support from the government, such as building various infrastructures and providing sufficient compensation and improved treatment in vulnerable areas and avoided fields, thereby creating an environment where doctors can voluntarily enter essential and regional medical care."