Jeonnam Province Deploys 477 Public Health Doctors to Medically Underserved Areas Including Islands

A Decrease of 57 Compared to Last Year Sparks Discussion on Countermeasures
Plans to Reflect Outcomes in Future Presidential Election Pledges

Non-face-to-face medical consultation at Sinan County Public Health Center. Provided by Jeonnam Province

Jeollanam-do will assign a total of 477 public health doctors, including 194 newly appointed doctors, to primary medical care and public health duties in medically underserved areas such as rural and fishing villages on the 9th.

These personnel will be deployed to 238 public health institutions, 3 local medical centers, 19 emergency rooms in hospitals located in vulnerable areas, 2 hospital ships, and 14 other public hospitals.

Public health doctors will be responsible for safeguarding the health of residents at the forefront of primary medical care.

This year's placement of public health doctors has decreased by 57 compared to the previous year (50 fewer in medicine, 9 fewer in Korean medicine, and 2 more in dentistry). The main reasons are presumed to be a combination of factors such as a decline in military service resources due to low birth rates, an increase in the proportion of female medical students, and a preference for shorter active-duty military service (18 months) compared to the longer service period for public health doctors (36 months).

As the number of public health doctors, a system that began in Jeollanam-do in 1979, is rapidly decreasing, the province plans to identify new policy tasks through public discussions to develop alternative policies for primary medical care.

Jeollanam-do will conduct a strategic meeting to address the decrease in public health doctors with the participation of city and county health centers, the Jeollanam-do Medical Association, public health doctors, and the Vulnerable Area Hospital Association. In addition, a National Assembly forum will be held, and the alternative policy tasks derived from these discussions will be promoted as policy pledges in the upcoming presidential election.

Lee Sangsim, Director of Health and Welfare of Jeollanam-do, said, "This year, newly appointed public health doctors will be assigned to the right places in medically underserved areas to protect residents' health and serve for disease prevention and management."