Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong speaks during a meeting at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Seoul, July 23. Yonhap
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Tuesday criticized some medical professors for threatening to boycott training programs for junior doctors, calling their move "deeply regrettable."
Cho made the remarks as some medical professors have vowed to boycott training programs for junior doctors in protest of the government's push for accepting the resignations of striking trainees and the medical school admission quota hikes.
"It is deeply regrettable that some medical professors seem to turn away from patients' anxiety and inconvenience," Cho told a government response meeting.
Cho called for medical professors to persuade striking trainee doctors to return to hospitals.
Monthslong standoffs with trainee doctors over the medical school admission quota hikes have shown no end in sight, as trainee doctors have been unresponsive to the government's appeasement steps, including a plan to abandon all punitive steps against striking trainee doctors.
As part of the government's efforts to help trainees return, hospitals have started hiring some 7,700 trainee doctors for the training program that starts in September.
However, it remains uncertain how many trainee doctors will apply for training programs in September.
More than 90 percent of around 13,000 junior doctors walked off their jobs in February in the form of resignations against the government's medical reform.
The government has already finalized an admissions quota hike of approximately 1,500 students for medical schools next year in an effort to address problems stemming from the shortage of doctors.
The government, meanwhile, has been seeking to offer special treatment for trainee doctors joining the training program starting in September, such as an exemption from the rule prohibiting repeat applications to a department within the same year.
The health ministry is also consulting with the Military Manpower Administration to delay the conscription of returning trainee doctors. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve at least 18 months in the military. (Yonhap)
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