Residents Consider Returning to Training Sites... "Proactive Dialogue with Government and National Assembly"

Leadership Change in the Resident Association... Additional Specialist Exam Demanded for Return
Jeong Eun-kyung, Welfare Minister Nominee: "Ensuring Public Health Rights Through Medical Reform"

As the association of medical residents has formed a new, moderate-leaning leadership and decided to engage in dialogue with the government, there are rising expectations that this could become a turning point in the ongoing conflict between doctors and the government. However, since the residents' demands have not yet been clearly articulated, and the Lee Jaemyung administration continues to emphasize medical reforms such as the establishment of public medical schools?measures that the medical community has consistently opposed?additional variables are expected to emerge.

According to the medical community on June 30, the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) held an extraordinary general assembly at the Seoul Medical Association in Dangsan-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on June 28, which was a weekend. At the meeting, the association officially announced the formation of a new leadership and stated, "We have decided to proactively engage in dialogue with the government and the National Assembly." The association officially confirmed Han Sungjon, the representative resident at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, as the new acting chair of KIRA's emergency committee.

Residents who had resigned are now expressing conditional intentions to return and are showing signs of moving back to their training sites. Acting Chair Han said, "A hasty agreement without the consent of our members will not be reached," and added, "Now, with a new government in place, is the right time to prevent further disruption and restore Korea's collapsed healthcare system." On June 27, he also met with Park Jumin, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chair of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, at a location in Seoul to discuss possible solutions to the conflict between doctors and the government.

However, some believe it will take time to reach an agreement with the government, as the residents' demands to be brought to the negotiation table have not yet been clearly defined.

The new emergency committee's main demands to the government are threefold: a review of the Yoon Sukyeol administration's essential healthcare policy package and medical reform implementation plans; improvement of poor resident training environments and ensuring continuity of training; and an increase in the proportion of physicians in health and medical governance structures, along with institutionalization of this change. In addition, there is a possibility that they may demand special training provisions, such as holding an additional specialist examination in August, in line with the end of training, in addition to the regular exam held every February.

Some analysts point out that, given the residents have presented a significant number of demands and the medical environment has already changed?such as tertiary hospitals restructuring around physician assistant (PA) nurses to fill the prolonged gap in medical care?it will not be easy to resolve the conflict quickly. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has also not yet presented a clear solution to the conflict between doctors and the government, only stating, "We are prepared to engage in dialogue if the residents wish."

It is also seen as a positive development for the residents that, with the nomination of Jeong Eunkyung, former head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as the first Minister of Health and Welfare under the Lee Jaemyung administration the previous day, there is now a designated counterpart for dialogue to resolve the conflict.

Upon her nomination, Jeong stated, "Since last year, the public has endured great hardship throughout the medical reform process," and added, "By strengthening regional, essential, and public healthcare, and by ensuring that the voices of the people are actively reflected in medical reform, I will guarantee the public's right to health by improving access to healthcare for everyone." She also said, "With sincere communication and cooperation, I will work to swiftly resolve the conflict between doctors and the government."