SKorea: Trainee Doctors Walk-Out Disrupts Healthcare Sector

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Facts

• More than half of South Korea's 13K trainee doctors submitted letters of resignation Monday in protest against the government's proposal to increase the number of medical students by 2K next year. According to the Health Ministry, 1,630 of them had walked off the job.¹
• While Korean doctors are some of the highest paid in the world, the country is also dealing with the second lowest doctor-to-people ratios among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with 2.5 per 1K.²
• The protesting trainees argue that if the government increased medical school enrollment by the proposed 65%, it would lead to overtreatment and more competition. They claim the shortage in emergency care is due to harsh working conditions and low wages for interns and residents.³
• Pres. Yoon Suk-yeol said there were already postponed cancer surgeries, with up to 37% of doctors reportedly at risk of being affected by the strike. The government on Tuesday also threatened legal action against the strikers, including revoking their medical licenses.²
• While a Gallup poll found that about 76% of Koreans support the government's plan, doctors and medical student groups believe it would also hurt the national health insurance plan.⁴
• South Korean officials are projecting a doctor deficit of 10K by 2035 if student enrollment doesn't increase. The previous administration proposed an admissions jump of 4K over 10 years, but the plan was halted due to a month-long doctor strike.³

Sources: ¹NBC, ²BBC News, ³New York Times and ⁴Reuters.com.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by English. South Korea's doctor's unions are effectively holding their ailing patients hostage to stop a public policy favored by the vast majority of the population. 76-90% of people support the increase in medical students. This proposal is in line with other major economies working to meet the needs of their aging populations. The striking doctors are not focused on the needs of patients here.
• Narrative B, as provided by Business Insider. The current labor shortage isn't taking place throughout the entire medical field but rather a select number of specialty fields that endure uniquely low wages and 80-hour work weeks. The proposed increase in medical students won't help with this shortage — it will continue to bring wages down for struggling doctors while also lowering the quality of education at medical schools.

Predictions