{"id":17798,"date":"2024-04-04T04:27:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/04\/as-doctors-walkout-drags-on-some-south-koreans-are-losing-patience\/"},"modified":"2024-04-04T04:27:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:27:57","slug":"as-doctors-walkout-drags-on-some-south-koreans-are-losing-patience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/04\/as-doctors-walkout-drags-on-some-south-koreans-are-losing-patience\/","title":{"rendered":"As Doctors\u2019 Walkout Drags On, Some South Koreans Are Losing Patience"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/01\/multimedia\/00skorea-doctors-01-whjp\/00skorea-doctors-01-whjp-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Doctors\u2019 Walkout Drags On, Some South Koreans Are Losing Patience\" title=\"As Doctors\u2019 Walkout Drags On, Some South Koreans Are Losing Patience\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Six weeks after thousands of residents and interns at South Korean hospitals <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/19\/world\/asia\/south-korea-doctors.html?searchResultPosition=2\" title=\"\">walked off the job<\/a>, frustration is rising.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Patients have filed more than 2,000 complaints about surgeries and other treatments being postponed, canceled or refused, according to the national health ministry. Hospitals have closed wards and restructured staff. Nurses have taken on duties usually performed by physicians, and military doctors have been deployed to public health centers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Much of the anger over the disruptions is aimed at President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has not backed down from his proposal to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/29\/world\/asia\/doctor-strike-south-korea.html?searchResultPosition=3\" title=\"\">dramatically expand medical school admissions<\/a> to address a shortage of physicians. The young doctors who walked out in February to protest that plan say it wouldn\u2019t solve the health care system\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But many people are also exasperated with the doctors, despite the exalted position that physicians hold in South Korea\u2019s hierarchical society. Critics accuse them of trying to protect their elite status, and their income, by keeping the number of doctors low.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDoctors are one of the richest and most powerful groups in Korea,\u201d said Lee Chun-hee, a 26-year-old office worker in Seoul. \u201cThey need to be humbled.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">South Korea has fewer physicians per capita than most countries in the developed world \u2014 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, compared to an average of 3.7 in the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oecd.org\/health\/health-at-a-glance\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development<\/a>. Surveys have found that most South Koreans want more medical students enrolled to address that. In one recent poll, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/GYH20240306000100044\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">43 percent<\/a> of respondents said the physicians who\u2019ve stopped working \u2014 they currently number 12,000 \u2014 should face legal consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For some doctors, that is a startling message to hear from their patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen they\u2019re sick and come to us for treatment, they seek us out with a heart of gratitude. But when it comes to public policies or large social issues, it appears the public wants the doctors to be the ones to compromise,\u201d said Dr. Kim Daejung, a professor of endocrinology and metabolism at Ajou University Hospital in the city of Suwon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cPublic sentiment toward doctors is two-sided,\u201d Dr. Kim said. \u201cWhile they are admired and respected, they are also the target of envy and anger.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Doctors have prestige everywhere, but that is particularly true in South Korea. Kye Bongoh, a professor of sociology at Kookmin University in Seoul, attributes that to a strong belief in the educational hierarchy. Many top students choose medicine over finance or other corporate paths \u2014 partly because of its high social status, but also because it is seen as offering more financial stability in the long term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen people hear the word \u2018doctor,\u2019 they assume they were first in their class since high school,\u201d Professor Kye said. \u201cAnd since they go through arduous training to be a doctor, they\u2019re highly respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Kim, who got his license in 1993, remembers when high achievers were just as likely to enter fields like engineering, which promised well-paying jobs with big firms. But medicine started looking like a better bet after the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, which put thousands of companies out of business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBecoming a doctor was seen as a more stable path,\u201d Dr. Kim said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Because South Korean health care is relatively cheap, government-subsidized and easily accessible, patients can go \u201cmedical shopping,\u201d as Dr. Seo Yeonjoo, a 33-year-old specialist in the internal medicine department at St. Vincent Hospital near Seoul, put it. This has led to something like a star system, doctors say, as patients seek out highly regarded physicians who\u2019ve gone to top schools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cLots of people come to the big hospitals seeking out these big-time doctors,\u201d said Dr. Seo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The young \u201ctrainee doctors\u201d who\u2019ve walked out say their situation is very different. They work grueling shifts, often for what amounts to less than minimum wage, once the long hours are factored in. But some South Koreans are skeptical, saying that lucrative, comfortable careers await them once they\u2019ve put in their five years as interns and residents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere is no way to explain why doctors are opposed to increasing the number of doctors, other than the idea of \u200b\u200bmaking more money at the expense of patients,\u201d the Chosun Ilbo newspaper <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chosun.com\/opinion\/editorial\/2024\/02\/19\/TVGJPS3GARAWFLNIGPDHH3ATV4\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in an editorial<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This isn\u2019t the first time doctors have pushed back against attempts to expand medical school admissions. There was a walkout in the summer of 2020, after then-President Moon Jae-in proposed a more modest increase. Faced with a strained medical system at the height of the Covid pandemic, the government backed down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Professor Kye said that when the public\u2019s trust in physicians is shaken by such episodes in South Korea, it tends to rebound quickly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhile there might be animosity toward doctors now, our culture of seeking out revered doctors for treatment, and the long-held perception of them, is unlikely to change,\u201d he said. In 2021, a year after the last walkout, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.or.kr\/nmc\/bbs\/B0000008\/view.do?nttId=12271&amp;menuNo=200394&amp;pageIndex=4\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">surveys<\/a> found that around 60 percent of the public thought the medical system had responded well to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yoon Jong Min, 54, who had surgery on his leg in October, was due for a follow-up visit last month. Because of the walkout, it was postponed to mid-April, and the Seoul hospital where he was treated could not guarantee that it wouldn\u2019t be delayed again, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he blames the government more than the doctors for the standoff. \u201cI\u2019m being harmed by the administration\u2019s political show,\u201d he said. He said that medical school admissions should be increased, but gradually.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Yoon\u2019s plan would raise medical school admissions \u2014 to around 5,000 students per year, from around 3,000 \u2014 starting next year. It would also spend 10 trillion won, or $7.5 billion, over the next five years on improving health care services, especially in rural areas that the government says are underserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The doctors, along with other critics of the government, say the plan was hastily put together to win votes in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/28\/world\/asia\/south-korea-parliament-election-2024.html?searchResultPosition=3\" title=\"\">legislative elections<\/a> this month. The doctors say it would do little to alleviate the physician shortage, which they say is concentrated in certain departments, like emergency care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Civic groups have urged the doctors and the government to end the dispute. \u201cWill they put this abnormal situation to end only after patients die from not being treated on time?\u201d the Korea Alliance of Patients Organization said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kofpg.kr\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in a statement<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SXmb6HA_gso\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">In a televised speech this week<\/a>, Mr. Yoon defended his plan, saying that 2,000 more medical students per year was the \u201cminimum\u201d needed. But he also invited doctors to submit a counterproposal and offered to meet with them.<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>A major doctors\u2019 group welcomed that offer but said any talks would have to be \u201cmeaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Kim, the Ajou University Hospital professor, said the country\u2019s attitude toward his profession was unlikely to change, whatever the outcome of the dispute. \u201cPeople might be angry at doctors now, but they will still want their children to become one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Six weeks after thousands of residents and interns at South Korean hospitals walked off the job, frustration is rising. Patients have filed more than 2,000 complaints about surgeries and other treatments being postponed, canceled or refused, according to the national health ministry. Hospitals have closed wards and restructured staff. Nurses have taken on duties usually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/01\/multimedia\/00skorea-doctors-01-whjp\/00skorea-doctors-01-whjp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9995,15646,23231,1782,23232,6967,23230],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17800,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17798\/revisions\/17800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}