KIRA Adjusts Stance from "Withdrawal of Essential Medical Package" to "Re-examination"
"Guarantee of Training Continuity" Needed, but Shortage of Military Doctor Candidates Remains an Issue
As residents who resigned from hospitals amid conflicts between doctors and the government have finalized their demands?including the formation of a new consultative body and improvements to training environments?discussions on their return are expected to accelerate. Analysts suggest that the method by which the "continuity of training" demanded by residents is guaranteed in future talks between doctors and the government will determine the scale of their return.
According to the medical community on July 21, the emergency committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) confirmed three main demands through a temporary general assembly on July 19: the formation of a consultative body led by field experts to re-examine the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s essential medical policy package; improvement of the resident training environment and guarantee of training continuity; and establishment of a discussion body to ease the legal burden related to medical accidents.
This is the first time in one year and four months that residents who collectively resigned in February last year in protest against the government’s plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 have officially presented their demands. Compared to the seven major demands previously put forward by KIRA, the call for a "complete withdrawal of the essential medical package and medical school quota expansion" has now been adjusted to a "re-examination."
Most of these three demands are already issues on which the government, the medical community, and political circles have reached a consensus. On July 18, Jeong Eun-kyeong, the nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, stated during a National Assembly confirmation hearing that, regarding the return of residents, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare will quickly establish a training consultative body to discuss these matters," and added, "This should be an opportunity to improve the training environment for residents and to create a system that ensures high-quality training."
The medical community believes that the "guarantee of training continuity" will have the greatest impact on whether and how many residents decide to return. Currently, resigned residents can apply for the second half of this year’s recruitment, which will be announced at the end of this month, and resume training from September even without special measures. However, for those residents who have not yet completed their mandatory military service, enlistment issues are cited as a major factor making the decision to return more difficult.
Residents who resigned last year are now registered as medical officer candidates and are subject to enlistment as military doctors or public health doctors. Of the more than 3,000 residents, about 880 enlisted in April this year. While some returned during the first half recruitment, which allowed for deferment of enlistment, 1,000 to 2,000 residents are still waiting for enlistment.
Even if these residents return to training hospitals in the second half of the year, they will have to enlist immediately if they receive draft notices next year or the year after, and it remains uncertain whether they will be able to return to their original hospitals after discharge. For this reason, some residents are demanding that, if enlistment deferment is not possible, measures be put in place to allow them to return to their original hospitals and continue training after discharge. However, if enlistment is deferred for all of them, there will be a significant shortage of military doctors next year.
Some residents are also said to be requesting measures such as shortening the training period or holding additional specialist exams to ensure there are no gaps before promotion or specialist exams. However, KIRA has stated that it has "no official position" on such specific measures and has refrained from mentioning demands that could be seen as "privileges."
Unlike medical students who recently declared an unconditional return, residents have not made a firm commitment to return. However, the atmosphere has changed significantly compared to the first half of the year, and expectations are rising that a considerable number of residents will return in the second half.
According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, as of the end of the first half of this year, the 'Big Five' hospitals (Samsung Seoul, Seoul National University, Seoul St. Mary’s, Asan Medical Center, and Severance) had a total of 548 residents, consisting of 113 interns and 435 residents. This is more than double the number at the end of December last year (230), but still only 19.9% of the level seen at the end of 2023 before the conflict between doctors and the government (2,742).
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