Bill proposed to limit medical trainees' weekly work hours to 80
By Chung Ah-young
Song Myoung-je, a third year resident working at the emergency department of Myongji Hospital, says he and his colleagues often write "fake" shift reports to underreport their working hours to the health authorities. There are guidelines against working over 88 hours of per week for trainee doctors.
Song, the president of the Korean Intern Resident Association, says that in reality, many young doctors in training are working more than 100 hours per week. Despite this, they cannot ask hospitals to cut their hours or request overtime pay because of poor legal protection.
"I am relatively lucky. I work very hard while on duty and after work I can rest. But other interns and residents in different departments are severely exploited because there is no rule forcing hospitals to protect our rights," he said.
To that end, Song welcomed a bill recently proposed by Rep. Kim Yong-ik of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to improve the working conditions and status of medical trainees, which will also protect patients from possible errors committed by tired interns.
This is the first move to better protect their rights since the medical training system was introduced in Korea in 1951.
The bill aims to limit working hours to 80 per week from the current average of 100. It also plans to oblige trainees not to work for more than 20 hours straight, as well as guaranteeing their holidays. They will also have at least 10 hours rest between shifts under the bill.
If hospitals don't keep the weekly work limit or refuse holidays, they will be subject to up to 10 million won in fines, according to the bill.
"I've decided to try and improve the hectic working conditions of trainees because it not only threatens their learning but also the safety of patients," Kim said.
Interns and residents have called for reducing their long work hours for a long time.
Their voices grew louder after an incident where a trainee doctor who suffered from sleep deprivation and fatigue gave a wrong injection to a nine-year-old boy receiving treatment for leukemia in 2010. The boy died as a result.
According to a recent survey conducted by Korea University, interns and residents work for 93 hours per week on average, more than double ordinary workers' 41 hours. They sleep for 5.4 hours a day and are on night duty for eight days a month.
This means patients are exposed to a higher risk of medical errors. Some 89 percent of interns and 41.1 percent of residents have experienced dozing-off while on duty.
To tackle this issue, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revised the regulations that trainees' work hours cannot exceed 88 per week last year. But as it was not legally binding, most hospitals have not followed the rules.
Compared to other countries, Korea's trainee doctors' working conditions lag way behind.
Interns in the United States work for 64 hours a week since the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) reduced the maximum allowable shift for them from 30 straight hours to 16. In Australia, they work for 55 hours weekly and in Japan, 45 hours.
"There is a worldwide movement to curtail work hours because there is no doubt there is a link between the fatigue of doctors and misdiagnosis. We are trainees and at the same time laborers who should be protected by the Labor Law," Song said.
However, hospitals have raised concerns over the bill, citing a lack of medical staff.
"It is hard to reduce trainees' work hours without fixing the fundamental problems such as low medical fees and a lack of medical staff," the Korean Hospital Association said.
By Chung Ah-young
Song Myoung-je, a third year resident working at the emergency department of Myongji Hospital, says he and his colleagues often write "fake" shift reports to underreport their working hours to the health authorities. There are guidelines against working over 88 hours of per week for trainee doctors.
Song, the president of the Korean Intern Resident Association, says that in reality, many young doctors in training are working more than 100 hours per week. Despite this, they cannot ask hospitals to cut their hours or request overtime pay because of poor legal protection.
"I am relatively lucky. I work very hard while on duty and after work I can rest. But other interns and residents in different departments are severely exploited because there is no rule forcing hospitals to protect our rights," he said.
To that end, Song welcomed a bill recently proposed by Rep. Kim Yong-ik of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) to improve the working conditions and status of medical trainees, which will also protect patients from possible errors committed by tired interns.
This is the first move to better protect their rights since the medical training system was introduced in Korea in 1951.
The bill aims to limit working hours to 80 per week from the current average of 100. It also plans to oblige trainees not to work for more than 20 hours straight, as well as guaranteeing their holidays. They will also have at least 10 hours rest between shifts under the bill.
If hospitals don't keep the weekly work limit or refuse holidays, they will be subject to up to 10 million won in fines, according to the bill.
"I've decided to try and improve the hectic working conditions of trainees because it not only threatens their learning but also the safety of patients," Kim said.
Interns and residents have called for reducing their long work hours for a long time.
Their voices grew louder after an incident where a trainee doctor who suffered from sleep deprivation and fatigue gave a wrong injection to a nine-year-old boy receiving treatment for leukemia in 2010. The boy died as a result.
According to a recent survey conducted by Korea University, interns and residents work for 93 hours per week on average, more than double ordinary workers' 41 hours. They sleep for 5.4 hours a day and are on night duty for eight days a month.
This means patients are exposed to a higher risk of medical errors. Some 89 percent of interns and 41.1 percent of residents have experienced dozing-off while on duty.
To tackle this issue, the Ministry of Health and Welfare revised the regulations that trainees' work hours cannot exceed 88 per week last year. But as it was not legally binding, most hospitals have not followed the rules.
Compared to other countries, Korea's trainee doctors' working conditions lag way behind.
Interns in the United States work for 64 hours a week since the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) reduced the maximum allowable shift for them from 30 straight hours to 16. In Australia, they work for 55 hours weekly and in Japan, 45 hours.
"There is a worldwide movement to curtail work hours because there is no doubt there is a link between the fatigue of doctors and misdiagnosis. We are trainees and at the same time laborers who should be protected by the Labor Law," Song said.
However, hospitals have raised concerns over the bill, citing a lack of medical staff.
"It is hard to reduce trainees' work hours without fixing the fundamental problems such as low medical fees and a lack of medical staff," the Korean Hospital Association said.
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