Notification of Staff Shortage Due to Resident Doctors' Resignation Submission
High Probability of Cancer Metastasis, Only Waiting for Surgery Date
Gastric Cancer Patient's Gastrectomy Surgery Date Also Postponed
Kim, a cancer patient in his 20s, received a devastating phone call on the afternoon of the 20th. The cancer surgery scheduled to be performed at a top-tier general hospital in Seoul a week later was suddenly canceled. The hospital informed Kim that the schedule was canceled due to a shortage of medical staff caused by the collective resignation of residents.
Since the surgery was canceled, Kim has been spending anxious days. Since being diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer in January, Kim has been fighting the disease while waiting for the surgery date. Medullary thyroid cancer is a rare cancer accounting for less than 1% of all thyroid cancers and has a poorer prognosis compared to common thyroid cancers. At diagnosis, there is a 50% chance it has metastasized to other tissues.
The hospital also judged Kim's condition to be urgent and moved the originally scheduled surgery date from April to February. Kim said, "Because cancer cells divide rapidly in younger patients, the hospital said surgery must be done as soon as possible," adding, "My condition is so serious that the surgery had to be moved up by two months, so I am very anxious."
However, with the residents' resignation, Kim's surgery has been postponed indefinitely. The hospital gave Kim an uncertain promise to reschedule the surgery once the residents' resignation issue is resolved, without providing a clear schedule.
Kim expressed anger and said he intends to join collective protests with other patients against the residents who caused the medical gap. Kim said, "The reason patients call doctors 'seonsaengnim' (teacher) is because they believe doctors care for patients with a sense of duty," adding, "But this time, doctors are so absorbed in their own values that they are neglecting patients and forgetting their duties as doctors, which is very upsetting."
Medical Gap Becomes Reality... Patient Groups Collect Damage Cases to Respond
Since all residents at the Big 5 hospitals submitted their resignations on the 19th, the departure of medical staff from hospitals has accelerated, making the medical gap a reality.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of 10 p.m. on the 20th, 8,816 residents, accounting for 71.2% of all residents nationwide, submitted resignation letters across 100 hospitals. These 100 hospitals employ 95% of the approximately 13,000 residents in Korea. Although no hospital has accepted these resignations yet, 7,813 residents have stopped working and are not coming to work.
On the morning of the 16th, medical staff are moving in a dedicated space for residents at a hospital in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]
The departure of residents from their workplaces has caused confusion in top-tier general hospitals where critically ill patients are concentrated, leading to surgery delays. Online communities of cancer and kidney disease patients have been posting messages expressing their suffering due to disruptions in medical care.
A stomach cancer patient said, "I had a gastrectomy scheduled for the 22nd, but I was notified two days ago that it was postponed," adding, "The hospital says they don't know when the strike will end. I already took leave from work, but the schedule was disrupted."
Some patients are collecting damage caused by the residents' resignation crisis. The administrators of the online cafe "Areumdaun Donghaeng" (Beautiful Companionship), which gathers 220,000 cancer patients, posted, "Despite the medical strike causing numerous patient damages, there is no proper response," and "At this point, what patients can do is to widely share their damage cases to make doctors realize the urgency of returning to work." The post received over 100 comments from patients reporting damages.
Complaints from patients are also being received at the "Doctor Collective Action Damage Report and Support Center" operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. On the first day of operation, a total of 103 consultations were received. Among them, 34 complaints were about damages caused by surgery cancellations or indefinite postponements.
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