"Medical School Professors' Weekly Day Off Means Time Allocation... Not a Break"

"Time Needed to Ensure Professor-Patient Safety"
"Prolonged Medical-Political Standoff...Hospitals May Become Inoperable"

On the 22nd, medical staff were moving at a large hospital in Seoul where some former residents, who had left the hospital along with residents in protest against the increase in medical school admissions, returned partially. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Professors from Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul Asan Medical Center announced that they will suspend outpatient consultations one weekday per week starting next week. On the 24th, Choi Chang-min, a professor of respiratory medicine at Seoul Asan Medical Center and chairman of the Emergency Countermeasures Committee of medical school professors nationwide, explained, "We decided to take a break and reduce surgeries to allocate more time to care for inpatients."

On the 24th, during KBS Radio's 'Jeon Jong-cheol's Jeonggyeok Sisa,' Chairman Choi stated regarding the once-a-week suspension discussed at the National Emergency Countermeasures Committee meeting, "How can safety be guaranteed if a plane pilot is flying for a long time without a co-pilot or anyone else?" He added, "Such time is necessary for the safety of professors and patients." He further clarified, "It is a decision to allocate time, not to rest."

The day before, the government announced that it had proposed dialogue with the medical community, including the Emergency Committee of medical school professors and four other medical organizations, a week ago, but the medical community has rejected it. However, Chairman Choi said, "I have not received any contact from the Presidential Office," and added, "If confidentiality is guaranteed, I am willing to meet and have an open and honest discussion anytime."

Chairman Choi mentioned the ongoing deadlock between the medical and government sectors and explained the serious situations that may arise in the future. He said, "Hospitals in our country are labor-intensive. Without patients and with high labor costs, hospital management is not easy." He continued, "Essential departments work 70 to 80 hours a week, but as they age, it becomes physically impossible," emphasizing, "If the medical-government deadlock continues this long, there could be very serious situations where hospitals cannot operate due to economic infeasibility."

He appealed, "Medical staff are inevitably forced to reduce consultations due to physical limitations," and added, "If this is not resolved immediately, quite a dangerous situation will occur. I sincerely hope everyone stops, cooperates well, and thinks proactively about the direction for next year."