[Reporter’s Notebook] 'Somehow' Won't End the Medical Crisis

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong repeatedly parroted the phrase "somehow" during the emergency hearing on the medical community situation held by the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee on the 26th of last month.

When Reform New Party lawmaker Lee Joo-young asked, "Does the Ministry of Health and Welfare have any measures to address the shortage of residents?" he gave a non-responsive answer, saying, "Although it is quite late, we are trying 'somehow' to get the residents to return." When Health and Welfare Committee Chair Park Joo-min interjected to ask what specific measures "somehow" referred to, he repeated redundantly, "One is to 'somehow' ease the legal burdens..." Ultimately, even Chair Park repeated the same question in a farcical manner, asking, "'Somehow' ease, but what exactly is that 'somehow'... (specifically what is it)?"

One week after the hearing, on the 2nd, during the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting amid doctors' collective action, Minister Cho still failed to explain the measures to address the shortage of residents. He only reiterated the already oft-stated plea, "We repeatedly urge the residents to make a decision to return as soon as possible."

From the early stages of the medical service gap crisis, the Ministry of Health and Welfare repeatedly explained in briefings that "we have sufficient measures to prevent resident doctors from leaving." However, Minister Cho's "somehow" response at the hearing revealed the government's lack of honesty. At the hearing, Minister Cho said, "(The measures for residents) will be quickly discussed and announced by the Medical Reform Special Committee." This was an admission that no measures existed.

The government must now be honest to maintain public support for medical reform while resolving the situation. It must first acknowledge that the hardline measures such as all kinds of orders issued to residents and medical school professors, as well as conciliatory policies they do not want, have not worked over the past four months and will not work going forward.

If 'somehow' cannot move the residents, the government must change the target of 'somehow' to preventing the collapse of essential medical services as a whole. When preventing the collapse of essential medical services becomes the goal, there are two options. One is to accept the residents' demand for a fundamental reconsideration of medical school enrollment increases to bring them back. If this option is not taken, the next option is to build an essential medical system without residents by any means. In this case, the public will have to endure the inconvenience and harm caused by the ongoing service gaps at tertiary medical institutions for a long time. For about ten years, until the medical school freshmen admitted from next year obtain their specialist qualifications, the public and patients must unwaveringly support the government to complete the "medical reform starting without residents."

The government must explain to the public and obtain their consent regarding any problems that may arise until the effects sought through increasing medical school enrollment appear. Unrealistic improvisations like "We will send critical patients abroad by chartered flights if necessary" or "If there is a shortage of cadavers for dissection practice, we will import them," as seen during Minister Cho's hearing, will eventually be exposed. If such situations repeat, the public will withdraw support and medical reform will lose momentum. Then, our medical system will become the worst case, worse than an untouched building that was half-repaired. The government failed to anticipate the prolonged mass resignation of residents and must honestly admit that it did not prepare any measures. This is the starting point for resolving the medical crisis.