Medical School Professors Also 'Angry'... Collective Action Becoming Visible?

Seoul National University Medical School Professors Association Emergency General Meeting on the 11th
Ulsan Medical School Already Agreed to 'Submit Resignation Letters'
Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-ho Proposes Dialogue to Medical School Association

About a month after medical students began a strike and class boycott in protest against the government's plan to increase medical school admissions, medical school professors nationwide are also gearing up for collective action by holding emergency meetings. The government has first proposed dialogue to the medical students.

According to the education and medical sectors on the 11th, various medical school professors' associations are currently considering how to respond to the expansion of medical school quotas. The Emergency Committee of the Seoul National University College of Medicine Professors' Association will hold an emergency general meeting with all faculty members attending that afternoon. Collective actions by professors may be discussed at this meeting. In a survey conducted late last month at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, 85% responded that they "may take collective action to protect residents and students."

Amid the ongoing strong confrontation between the government and the medical community over the increase in medical school admissions, on the 29th, the government's deadline for residents who left hospitals to return, a nurse at a large hospital in Seoul is moving a patient's bed. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Some professors have already resolved to submit their resignations. The Ulsan University College of Medicine Professors' Association, which includes medical staff from Seoul Asan Medical Center?the largest hospital in the country in terms of beds?agreed to voluntarily submit resignation letters at an emergency general meeting on the 7th. According to a survey conducted among Jeonbuk National University College of Medicine professors, 82.4% expressed their intention to submit resignation letters.

Medical school professors may also take collective action in the form of "release from concurrent positions" rather than submitting resignations. Among medical school professors, some hold concurrent positions, working both hospital clinical duties and university lectures. Release from concurrent positions means they would stop clinical work and only conduct lectures. This form of release is known not to constitute illegal "refusal of medical treatment" under the Medical Service Act.

Collective action in the form of "solidarity signatures" has also begun. Sixteen professors and specialists from major hospitals have disclosed their affiliations and real names and opened a website titled "Declaration Warning of Medical Collapse," collecting solidarity signatures since the 8th. They stated, "We urge the government and medical representatives to sincerely and rationally discuss and derive solutions together," adding, "We are doing our utmost on the front lines for patients and enduring every day, but we have already reached our limits and strongly warn that the worst medical catastrophe is imminent." As of 7 a.m. that day, 4,196 professors and specialists from training hospitals and 2,286 medical staff from other clinics and hospitals had joined the solidarity signatures.

Lee Han-kyung, the 2nd Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at the meeting, "In some universities and training hospitals, there are signs of professors opposing the increase in medical school admissions submitting resignations," adding, "However, under no circumstances should doctors abandon patients."

Meanwhile, the government proposed dialogue first to the medical students who have been continuing collective action for a month. Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, proposed dialogue to the Korea Medical Students Association (KMSA) representatives and requested a reply to the Ministry of Education by 6 p.m. on the 13th. If KMSA agrees to the dialogue, the minister plans to discuss with the students the normalization of medical school academic operations and protection of students' learning rights.