Legislative Conflict Leads to 36% Decrease in Doctors at 'Big 5 Hospitals'

The number of doctors at major tertiary hospitals decreased by more than 30% last year as residents who left hospitals in protest against the increase in medical school quotas did not return.

Yonhap News

According to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on the 2nd, as of the end of December last year, the total number of doctors at the so-called Big 5 hospitals?Samsung Seoul Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Severance Hospital?was 4,570.

This figure includes general practitioners, interns, residents, and specialists, representing a 35.92% decrease from 7,132 at the end of 2023, before the medical-government conflict.

The reduction in the number of doctors was largely due to vacancies among interns and residents. The number of interns at the Big 5 hospitals dropped from 628 at the end of 2023 to 17 at the end of last year, a 97.29% decrease, while residents decreased from 2,114 to 213 during the same period, an 89.92% reduction.

However, the number of specialists at the Big 5 hospitals was 4,174 as of the end of last year, showing only a slight decrease of 1.63% from 4,243 at the end of 2023.