[Exclusive] Government Won't Accept 'Unified Proposal' Made Only by Medical Groups... Ministry of Health and Welfare Says It Must Be Presented Together with the Korean Medical Association

"At Least Discuss with the Korean Hospital Association"
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It appears difficult for medical organizations such as the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Interns and Residents Association to come up with a 'unified medical community proposal' regarding the government's demand for increasing medical school quotas. On the 29th, it was revealed that the 'medical community' the government refers to includes not only medical organizations but also other professions and institutional groups. The medical community strongly opposed this, and accordingly, the possibility of a medical-government council based on a unified medical community proposal is also expected to be low.

On February 20th, at the Korean Medical Association building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Park Dan, President of the Korean Intern Resident Association (left), and Kim Taek-woo, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Korean Medical Association, are having a conversation.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Recently, the government has repeatedly stated, "If the medical community presents a reasonable and unified proposal based on scientific evidence and logic, the government is open to discussion." However, according to Asia Economy's coverage, the government confirmed that it does not consider the unified claims of medical organizations such as the Korean Medical Association, the Korean Interns and Residents Association, the National Medical School Professors Association (Jeon-ui-gyo-hyeop), and the Emergency Committee of National Medical School Professors (Jeon-ui-bi) as a unified medical community proposal. Jeong Gyeong-sil, head of the Medical Reform Promotion Team at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said right after the first meeting of the Medical Reform Special Committee on the 26th, "The medical community is not composed of doctors alone," adding, "(Medical organizations such as the KMA) should at least discuss and present a unified proposal together with the Korean Hospital Association, if not including the Korean Nurses Association and the Korean General Hospital Association."

The term 'medical community' is generally used to refer to 'doctors and various organizations to which doctors belong.' Korean traditional medicine doctors and their organizations are collectively called the Korean traditional medicine community, nurses and nursing organizations are called the nursing community, and hospital administrators and hospital organizations are called the hospital community. Interpreting Jeong's remarks collectively means 'the medical community and the hospital community should create a unified proposal together.'

The medical community showed reluctance to prepare a 'unified medical community proposal' that includes professions and institutional groups such as the Korean Hospital Association, as demanded by the government. Im Hyun-taek, the president-elect of the Korean Medical Association, said, "In the case of Japan's physician supply subcommittee, 16 out of 22 members are doctors. It is similar to how multiple engineers gather to build a rocket to space, and non-experts do not participate." He added, "There is no particular reason not to talk with the Hospital Association, but hospitals are organizations run by hospital operators who inevitably have to watch the government's stance, so I have doubts about whether we should be having this conversation now." Woo Bong-sik, director of the Medical Policy Research Institute at the Korean Medical Association, said, "The interests of hospitals as employers and doctors as employees differ. In the long run, it will be difficult to make the right choice," and "It is difficult to discuss medical school quotas with other professional groups from different fields."

Medical school professor organizations also responded negatively to the government's position that they should prepare a unified proposal together with the Hospital Association and others. Kim Chang-su, chairman of the National Medical School Professors Association, said on the 29th, "The Hospital Association is an employer, not a representative of employees (doctors who have the nature of workers)," and "The Ministry of Health and Welfare already knows that the Hospital Association and others are groups different in nature from interns and medical school professors. The unified proposal the government talks about is just for media response." A representative of the Emergency Committee of National Medical School Professors also said on the 29th, "(We) have different views (from the government)." A former intern also said on the same day, "It seems like a statement made knowing that consensus among professions is difficult. It seems the government is trying to divide the medical community."

Meanwhile, the government drew a line, stating that the 'reconsideration from scratch' demanded by medical organizations is not under consideration. Jeon Byung-wang, director of the Health and Medical Policy Office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said at a briefing of the Presidential Medical Reform Special Committee held at the Government Seoul Office on the 26th, "Claiming reconsideration from scratch without presenting an appropriate level of physician manpower sounds like maintaining the current state without alternatives."