As training hospitals plan to recruit more residents in the second half of the year than the number of residents who resigned at the government's request, a movement has emerged among medical school professors to refuse the education of residents recruited in this manner.
On the 20th, professors from the Department of Radiology at the Catholic University College of Medicine issued a statement saying, "We will not serve as supervising specialists nor provide education and guidance to residents who join in the latter half of the year," adding, "We express this intention in advance to prevent innocent victims from applying to the second half residents based on incorrect information."
They stated, "The government is forcing the recruitment of residents in September by holding the future resident quotas of medical institutions hostage," and criticized, "Our medical center (Catholic Medical Center) is trying to forcibly proceed with the September resident recruitment, ignoring the intentions of the residents who are the trainees and the professors responsible for their education."
They also conveyed, "All professors of the Department of Radiology at Catholic University College of Medicine have communicated to the medical center that they have no intention of conducting the September resident recruitment as a strong expression of their will not to replace residents fighting against the wrong policy with other residents," and added, "If the resident recruitment is forced, normal training of residents will be impossible."
The Catholic Medical Center includes eight training hospitals, including Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, one of the Big 5 hospitals. The medical center recently reported that out of 960 residents, 881 were processed as resigned and that they applied to recruit 1,019 residents to the government.
Similar boycott movements are emerging in other specialties at Catholic University College of Medicine. Kim Seong-geun, chairman of the Catholic University College of Medicine Professors’ Emergency Committee, said, "We plan to announce the committee’s position next week."
Previously, the government requested training hospitals to process the resignation of residents who did not return to work. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, out of 151 hospitals, 110 submitted resignation processing results, with 7,648 residents, accounting for 56.5% of the total 14,531 residents, processed as resigned (including appointment refusals).
Training hospitals have applied to the government to recruit 7,707 residents in the second half, which is more than the number of residents processed as resigned.
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