[Chodong Perspective] Issues That Remain Unresolved Even After Residents Return

The resident doctors who had resigned in protest against the increase in medical school admissions have belatedly apologized for the medical service vacuum. Meeting with a patient advocacy group, they bowed their heads and said, "We apologize to the public for the inconvenience caused by the prolonged 1 year and 5 months of conflict between the government and the medical community." They also clarified that privileges such as shortening of training periods, postponement of military service, or additional specialist exams are not the official position of the residents' association. However, they did not respond to the demand to "return unconditionally and voluntarily." Whether their remarks were merely formalities or excuses is not important. What matters is that the public has felt fear from the fact that doctors turned their backs on sick patients, and anger from the fact that patients were used as hostages for the benefit of the medical community. Political rhetoric or group interests can be negotiated again, but a life that is lost cannot be restored. At least in our country, medicine is no longer a benevolent art, and doctors are no longer objects of respect.

It is regrettable that the medical students who have decided to return to classes have not offered any apology, but since they are still students, we cannot force them to reflect. I only hope that, without shortcuts or tricks, they will study harder and complete their coursework more diligently than other university students. As those who oppose the increase in medical school admissions themselves have argued, the quality of medical education is directly linked to public health and is a value that cannot be compromised. They say they will increase class hours and keep to the academic calendar without breaks even during vacations, so it will certainly be difficult for them as well. However, do not divide the 2025 freshmen as the "Yoon Suk-yeol generation," or ostracize those who returned to classes earlier by calling them "Gamgyul." At the very least, those students did not choose to retake the entrance exam for a better medical school, and perhaps they were trying to fulfill their duties as medical students, or had their own reasons for needing to graduate quickly. Even if overwhelmed by the heavy workload, I hope they will take the time, if possible, to consider what kind of doctors they will become in the future. By the time today's medical students graduate, complete their training, and face patients directly, no one knows how our country's medical environment will have changed.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chung Eun-kyung pointed out that "the biggest problem in the conflict between the government and the medical community is distrust," and cited the restoration of trust and cooperation with the medical community as the most urgent task. However, forcibly patching up this trust will not easily return things to the way they were before the conflict. The medical community's anger at medical policies swayed by politics, the public's distrust of doctors, and the collapse of the strong bonds of trust between teachers and students in medical education and training all remain as aftereffects. An unprecedented situation occurred where South Korea's world-renowned medical system came to a halt due to a baseless policy of increasing medical school admissions by 2,000, but ironically, the administration that pushed such a unilateral policy ended up self-destructing, so both the admissions increase and the expulsion of medical students became moot, and the way was paved for the resigned residents to return.

The problem is that such events could happen again in the future. From now on, the government and the medical community may have to fight even more fiercely over numerous medical reform issues, including estimating the appropriate number of doctors. There is no guarantee that collective action by doctors will not be repeated in the process. The new administration is also expected to propose new policies such as establishing regional medical schools and public medical academies, and more people will agree that increasing the number of doctors is necessary to restore regional, essential, and public healthcare. What alternatives will doctors propose then? Will residents and medical students once again take the lead and become the targets of public criticism?