Ministry of Health and Welfare: "7,648 Residents Resigned... 7,707 Applicants for Second Half Recruitment"

More Than Half of All Residents Resign at 56.5%
Interns at 96.2% · Residents at 44.9%
Recruitment Notice on 22nd, Selection Process Until August

As a result of the government requesting the resignation processing of residents who do not return to training hospitals, it was reported that more than half, about 7,000, have resigned.

Medical staff moving inside a large hospital in Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 18th that out of 151 hospitals that hired residents by the 17th, 110 hospitals submitted resignation processing results, and as of March this year, 7,648 residents, accounting for 56.5% of the total 14,531 residents, resigned (including those who gave up their appointments).

In the case of interns, 2,950 out of 3,068 appointees, or 96.2%, resigned, and among residents, 4,698 out of 10,463, or 44.9%, resigned.

Earlier, on the 8th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced measures for resident return and requested each training hospital to confirm the return or resignation status of their residents by July 15 to finalize vacancies and to apply for the number of residents to be recruited in the second half of this year to the Training Environment Evaluation Committee Secretariat by the 17th.

The training hospitals applied for 7,707 residents in this second half recruitment. This includes 2,557 interns and 5,150 residents. The recruitment numbers also reflect vacancies that occurred regardless of the resident attrition situation.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Training Environment Evaluation Committee will verify the recruitment numbers applied for by the training hospitals by the 19th, announce the recruitment on the 22nd, and proceed with the recruitment process until August.

Jung Yoon-soon, Director of the Health and Medical Policy Office at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "In this second half recruitment, we have decided to apply special training exceptions so that many residents can return to the training process," adding, "We will take measures to ensure that returning residents can continue their training normally and minimize the impact on the timing of obtaining specialist qualifications." She added, "We ask residents to return as much as possible in the second half recruitment and continue their training."