hankyoreh

Doctors walk down a hallway at a hospital in Seoul on March 5, 2024, the day when the government began sending out advance notice of medical license suspension for more than 7,000 residents and interns who have walked out of the nation’s hospitals in protest of a plan to increase medical school admissions. (Yonhap)

Tension is in the air at Korea’s medical schools with some professors tendering their resignations following news that university administrators asked the Ministry of Education to increase medical school placements from current levels despite opposition from professors.

As young professors raise the idea of collectively submitting their resignations, the Medical Professors Association of Korea (MPAK) held an emergency meeting to discuss what actions it should take.

In a telephone call with the Hankyoreh on Tuesday, MPAK President Kim Chang-soo said that unilaterally increasing admissions at medical schools without taking into account educational conditions would place a heavy burden both on medical school professors and medical students, including interns and residents.

“Medical schools and hospitals have taken responsibility for teaching medical students until this point, but laypeople who are ignorant of the situation at medical schools have decided it’s fine to create more medical placements [despite the opposition of medical school professors],” said Kim.

Medical school professors had expressed their opposition to universities’ decisions to increase admissions for medical students. In a fourth statement on the issue released on Friday, MPAK said that a study about the demand for more medical school placements was not valid grounds for policymaking because professors hadn’t been consulted and called on university presidents to think carefully about their course of action.

Professors at Yonsei University’s medical school advised the school administration that no more placements should be created, and professors at Gyeongsang National University’s medical school also expressed opposition to adding more placements without a social consensus on the issue. Nevertheless, Yonsei University requested a 10% increase from its current admissions level of 110 medical students, while Gyeongsang National asked the ministry to raise its admissions cap from 76 to 200.

As a result, there are signs that professors are complaining and organizing collective action. Medical school faculty at Kangwon National University held a ritual head-shaving ceremony to protest the university’s request to nearly triple placements for medical students. The university has asked the ministry to add 140 new placements over professors’ objections.

An emergency action committee representing medical school faculty at the University of Ulsan published the results of a survey of 996 professors at three teaching hospitals (Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University Hospital and Gangneung Asan Hospital). The survey found that 77.5% of respondents (605 professors) were in support of quitting their hospital positions or tendering their resignation.

“77.5% said they intend to [actually stop seeing patients or resign]. The rest [of the professors] said they’re unwilling to abandon their patients and intend to keep treating them,” said Kim Mi-na, the head of the emergency committee.

Yun Woo-sung, a professor of vascular surgery at Kyungpook National University Hospital, and Bae Dae-hwan, a professor of cardiology at Chungbuk National University Hospital, have openly announced their intention to resign.

There are also reports of young professors gathering in small groups to discuss collective resignations at Severance Hospital and other medical institutions.

“The mood is that we should get out while the getting’s good. I see this as quite serious, as it could set off a chain of resignations,” said Kim, the president of MPAK.

The departure of trainee doctors from hospitals continues to increase the burden on medical school professors, who both teach classes and see patients in university hospitals.

“Some professors are saying that if this continues, it won’t be a matter of professors stepping down, but breaking down. They’re handling a work schedule of more than 100 hours a week, and professors in their 40s and 50s sometimes have to treat patients for two days in a row without any sleep. If we keep this up, I’m worried that professors will feel obliged to resign against their own wishes,” said Kim Hyun-ah, the vice president of MPAK.

But MPAK doesn’t intend to discuss collective resignations on an organizational level since professors are currently taking responsibility for patients’ medical care. In an emergency meeting scheduled for Saturday, MPAK intends to discuss its next steps and then release a statement calling on the universities and government to take responsibility for the issue.

By Kim Ga-yoon, staff reporter; Go Na-rin, staff reporter

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