Turned Away Residents... Even Big 5 Hospitals Have 'At Most 1'

Cold Response Despite Government Recruitment Period Extension
Recruitment Quota 7,282... Almost No Applicants

The additional recruitment period for second-half training residents has ended, but the application rate is understood to be low once again. Despite the government's extension of the recruitment period, most hospitals, including Seoul's 'Big 5' hospitals, reported zero or very few applicants.

According to the government and medical community on the 16th, training hospitals nationwide closed applications at 5 p.m. on this day for senior-year residents (2nd to 4th year) and interns starting training in September. Applications for first-year residents were closed earlier on the 14th.

The number of residents recruited in the extended second-half recruitment includes 2,435 interns, 1,364 first-year residents, and 3,483 senior-year residents, totaling 7,282.

As of the afternoon just before the application deadline, Seoul Asan Medical Center and Severance Hospital reportedly had zero applicants. Seoul National University Hospital and Samsung Medical Center also showed no significant return movement, with almost no applicants. The Catholic Central Medical Center did not disclose the final number of applicants but is expected to be minimal.

The situation is similar at regional training hospitals. Kyungpook National University Hospital, Chilgok Kyungpook National University Hospital, Yeungnam University Hospital, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, Daegu Catholic University Hospital, and Daegu Fatima Hospital reported no resident applicants as of the 5 p.m. deadline. Public hospitals such as Daegu Medical Center and Daegu Veterans Hospital also reported no applicants.

At Dongguk University WISE Campus located in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, one person applied. Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital had one applicant for the second-half resident recruitment that closed on the 31st of last month.

As the resident shortage continues, the government appears to be accelerating the transition of training hospitals into specialized personnel-centered hospitals.

On the 14th, Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated, "We will continuously support the expansion of personnel such as Physician Assistants (PAs) and promote structural reforms to operate tertiary general hospitals centered on specialists through institutionalization such as legislation at a rapid pace."

Some training hospitals are hiring general practitioners to fill the resident gaps. Chonnam National University Hospital is recruiting 31 full-time physicians (general practitioners) by the 30th to cover the shortage of residents.