Majority of Residents Unresponsive on Return Decision
As a large-scale resignation crisis among residents becomes a reality, hospitals continue to struggle over the timing of accepting residents' resignations. The majority of residents are maintaining their stance of neither returning nor applying for the recruitment of vacancies in the second half of the year, and the medical service gap is expected to continue for the time being.
According to the medical community on the 16th, only a very small number of residents had expressed their intention to return to training hospitals or resign by the deadline set by the government the day before. A representative from Seoul St. Mary's Hospital said, "I understand that the number of residents who have communicated their intention to resign or return is in the single digits," adding, "It seems that most other hospitals also have single-digit numbers." A representative from Seoul National University Hospital said, "I understand that there are not many residents who have expressed their intention to return or resign." According to the status as of the 12th compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, only 8.1%, or 1,111 out of 13,756 residents at 211 training hospitals nationwide, are currently working. If most of the residents who are not working are processed as resignations, it would result in a mass resignation of over 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, most training hospitals have not yet decided whether to process residents' resignations after June 4th as requested by the government or by the end of February this year as claimed by the residents, and are still reportedly in discussions. A representative from Samsung Medical Center said, "We are keeping all possibilities open regarding the timing of accepting residents' resignations," adding, "Since we prioritize residents' return, it is difficult to make a decision easily." A representative from Asan Medical Center also said, "We are still reviewing the timing of accepting residents' resignations," and added, "It is difficult to say for sure whether we can decide before the deadline for submitting vacancy demands."
All training hospitals nationwide must, according to the government's request, accurately identify the number of vacancies reflecting the number of resignations and submit this to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Training Environment Evaluation Committee by the 17th. Based on this, the Ministry plans to determine the final number of residents to be recruited in the second half of the year, and hospitals that do not disclose their vacancy demands will not be allowed to recruit residents in the second half.
It also seems unlikely that residents who have resigned will apply for the second half recruitment starting on the 22nd of this month. The government is encouraging return by applying a special exemption to residents who resigned during training and apply for the second half recruitment, exempting them from the rule that prohibits returning to the same year and specialty within one year after resignation. However, due to the cold response from residents, there are growing concerns that the second half recruitment may also face disruptions.
The government urged residents to return to medical practice again on this day. Lee Han-kyung, the 2nd Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for the Medical Collective Action, said in his opening remarks at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 16th, "Now is the time for everyone to come together for better medical reform," adding, "The medical community, including residents, should refrain from collective action before implementing the decades-delayed medical reform, and instead step up when the government's medical reform tasks are not properly carried out."
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