Calls for Institutional Measures
As medical students who had suspended their studies for about a year and a half have announced their return, and residents have also begun discussions about returning, patient advocacy groups have expressed their welcome while emphasizing the need for measures to prevent a recurrence of medical service gaps.
On July 13, Ahn Kijong, head of the Korea Alliance of Patient Organizations, told Yonhap News, "The announcement of the medical students' return is positive and welcome," but added, "It would be inappropriate for the government to grant any preferential measures to facilitate their return." Ahn also expressed concern, saying, "The new administration came to power with pledges to establish public medical schools and local medical schools. If these pledges are realized, doctors may stage collective action again, so there is a need for a law to prevent a recurrence of medical service gaps."
The Korea Leukemia Patients Organization and nine other groups, forming the Alliance of Patient Organizations, plan to hold a press conference in front of the presidential office in Yongsan on July 14 as victims of the medical service gap. In a press release announcing the press conference, the alliance stated, "Patients and their families do not want to experience another medical service gap and will never go through it again," and added, "We will strongly demand not only improvements in the training environment for residents, but also improvements in the safety and human rights environment for patients who are the subjects of such training."
The Korea Alliance for Rare Diseases, another patient group, also issued a statement the previous day, saying, "We welcome the announcement of the full return of medical students, as well as the joint statement by the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Graduate Schools, the Korean Medical Association, and the National Assembly that supported this decision." The alliance added, "Although the decision to return was late, it is nevertheless a fortunate development." However, the alliance pointed out, "The most painful aspect of this announcement is that the medical community did not offer even a single word of apology for the medical service gap and the harm caused to the public by their collective action." The group further stated, "This demonstrates a lack of awareness regarding the basic ethics and public responsibilities of medical professionals," and emphasized the need for institutional measures to prevent a recurrence of collective action, saying, "(The medical community) must make it clear that they will never again use patients' lives and health as bargaining tools."
Meanwhile, the Korean Medical Student Association, a student group, stated in a joint statement with a National Assembly standing committee and the Korean Medical Association the previous day, "We will trust the National Assembly and the government, and by having all students return to school, we will strive to restore normalcy to medical education and the healthcare system." This comes about one year and five months after students began a collective leave of absence in protest against the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 in February of last year.
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