Ministry of Health and Welfare Expects to Fill Regional Healthcare Gaps
Forty New Specialists to Be Recruited in Eight Essential Fields Including Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics
The pilot project for the “Contract-Based Regional Essential Doctor System” will be further expanded to resolve disparities in medical services between regions and address the shortage of medical personnel in local areas.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on January 19 that it will conduct an open call until February 6 to select two additional metropolitan local governments to newly participate in the pilot project for the contract-based regional essential doctor system.
This project is designed to enable doctors (specialists) to provide essential medical services and work for extended periods at regional medical institutions of general hospital level or higher. The government and local governments jointly support regional work allowances and living conditions for these doctors. Introduced in July last year, the program recruited a total of 90 doctors in four regions-Gangwon, Gyeongnam, Jeonnam, and Jeju-by the end of the year.
In particular, the legal basis for the project became clear with the enactment of the “Act on the Training and Support of Regional Doctors” in December last year.
Through this open call, two cities or provinces will be selected, with each recruiting 20 specialists as contract-based regional doctors, totaling 40. The government will allocate a budget of 2.794 billion won for this purpose.
The selected doctors will receive a regional work allowance of 4 million won per month in addition to their salaries, as well as residential, transportation, child education, and leisure benefits provided by each local government.
Eligible applicants are specialists who will work at regional medical institutions of general hospital level or higher. The fields are limited to eight essential areas most urgently needed in the medical field: internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, neurology, and neurosurgery.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will accept project operation plans from local governments until February 6 and finalize the selected regions after evaluation by the selection committee. In the selected regions, recruitment procedures will begin at each medical institution, and full-scale support will be provided starting in the second half of the year.
Ko Hyungwoo, Director of Essential Medical Support at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “At this critical time, cooperation between local governments and medical institutions is more important than ever to overcome regional healthcare challenges,” and urged local governments to actively participate in the expanded pilot project starting this year.
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