Photo by Clay Banks, taken from Unsplash.
In the month of February, about 9,000 Korean doctors have taken to the streets in Seoul to protest against newly implemented medical reforms by South Korea President Yoon Suk-Yeol. Primarily, the cause of the protests stems from increased competition from the increase in medical school graduates and the belief that the Korean government has not done enough to address disparities in income for doctors specialising in different areas and also doctors working in rural areas. As for its impacts, a severe social problem is occuring with the lack of healthcare services since there has been a shortage of medical professionals. Additionally, disciplinary action and prosecution awaits these doctors who have refused to comply with back-to-work orders. This essay seeks to cover the reasons for the protests and also the impacts of such protests on Koreans.
So, what were the reforms announced? President Yoon announced the addition of around 2,000 spots per year to medical schools in Korea. Such a move was done to pre-empt the projected shortfall of 15,000 doctors by 2035. South Korea already has one of the lowest numbers of doctors per head among Organization for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, as it stands at 2.5 doctors per head. More importantly, South Korea will be facing a demographic crisis with its ageing population, and that is expected to exact a toll on its healthcare in the future.
However, many of the doctor groups and unions oppose this move due to the possibility of increased competition and hence reduced income for these doctors. Simultaneously, they feel that a sudden increase in spots would erode the social prestige of being a doctor and also degrade the quality of education. Also, part of the reason why these doctors are angered is because they feel the government has neglected the welfare of doctors, and many doctors have suffered across the years because of inadequate government support for them. Over the years, the doctors have felt that there has been a large disparity in pay for those specialising in different areas and also those working in rural areas. These medical professionals feel better incentivisation for doctors to pursue specialisations like paediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine should be implemented to account for the shortages. As of now, the national health insurance provides comparatively lower reimbursements for doctors in these areas. As for Korean doctors who have made the jump to specialise in dermatology and cosmetic surgery, they are not bound by national insurance, so fees tend to be uncapped and much higher. The Korean government has already implemented about 10 trillion Korean Won to address these disparities, but Korean doctors working in the lower-paying specialisations feel that it is still not enough to address their hardships. As such, from the perspective of Korean doctors, they might feel that the shortage of professionals is not because of quotas in medical school but instead due to such disparities.
As for its impacts, having 9,000 doctors conduct strikes has inflicted severe damage to Korea’s healthcare capabilities. Hospitals have struggled to care for patients because of the shortage of medical professionals. To make matters worse, most of the striking doctors are young doctors and they are usually the bulk of the medical professionals manning the emergency department. As such, patients in the emergency department have been the one impacted the most. In addition to that, other scheduled surgeries, scheduled appointments have all had to be cancelled. Among major general hospitals, approximately 50% of operations have had to be cancelled. It seems that it is more unfair that patients and the entire Korean society has had to be caught up in such crossfire between the doctors and the government. People are denied critical healthcare services that they might require because of factors that they are unable to control. Though, being denied appointments are not the biggest problems for Koreans, because there has been a Korean woman in her 80s that has passed on as a result of these protests. In Daejeon, the woman was denied entry into several hospitals, and such delay in treatment led to her demise. It clearly showcases how the selfish acts of these doctors have led to drastic consequences. As such, Korean society as a whole has suffered greatly from the protests as the lack of doctors in hospitals has created a major healthcare crisis, even leading to casualties.
Another key impact is to the doctors who have continued to protest on the streets despite calls from the government to return to their workplace. As the protests went on, the government has made an ultimatum for doctors to return to their hospitals and withdraw their resignations by the end of February. Should they return to their hospitals, they would all be forgiven for walking out on their jobs. However, for doctors who continue the strikes, the government has promised to implement stringent punishments against them. These penalties could be a suspension of their medical licence for a year or even 3 years imprisonment. In addition, the Korean police also recently raided the Korean Medical Association, to investigate all personnel involved, as the government is officially expected to take action on protestors who have continued their protests despite the ultimatum given by the government. The ultimatum proved ineffective considering only 565 doctors returned to work, while the majority continued to take to the streets to protest. Some of the doctors might have hoped for Yoon to reverse the policy. However, Yoon is not expected to turn back from this current policy, because it is largely popular among Koreans as 76% of Koreans have supported this policy in a recent poll. Hence, Yoon is expected to maintain a firm stance to use this to win more votes in the April elections, especially considering his previous scandals. The implementation of the reforms have led to his approval ratings also rising to above 40%. As such, President Yoon is not expected to back down from his reforms anytime soon as it does not seem like the doctors protesting will be having their demands met by the government.
In conclusion, protests held by Korean medical professionals over the increased quota for medical schools have inflicted great damage to Korean society and the healthcare system. Many medical professionals are expected to be prosecuted for their actions that have led to Koreans being neglected of critical healthcare services. It remains to be seen if such protests will stop, as the majority of the doctors remain adamant in their beliefs in the face of persecution.
References
https://asianews.network/why-south-koreas-doctors-refuse-to-bend-despite-lack-of-public-support/#:~:text=OECD%20statistics%20released%20last%20year,medicine%2C%20while%20the%20OECD%20does.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/world/asia/doctor-strike-south-korea.html#:~:text=Surgeries%20postponed.,residents%20walked%20off%20their%20jobs.
Comments