Trainee program for doctors faces major surgery

By Bae Ji-sook

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering revising the current medical intern and residency training program that has been in practice for over 40 years.

This is a reflection of the voices of medical insiders expressing that the “excessively long” traineeship leads talented students to become physicians instead of researchers who develop new techniques and conduct more complex surgery.

The authorities have recently started a study on the possible impact of allowing each medical faculty to autonomously decide their curriculum and traineeship period.

Currently, there are two ways to become a medical specialist: enter a six-year medical school, take the doctor’s qualification examination, complete a one-year internship and a four-year-residency to earn a Ph.D. Or, get a bachelor’s degree in related areas then enter a four-year medical graduate school to do a one-year internship and four-year residency.

The residency shrinks to three years in a few exceptional departments. For those who choose to become a general practitioner, the internship and residency is not mandatory.

Many claim that the traineeship is too long. For those who choose to attend medical graduate school, it takes well over 13 years for women and more than 15 years for men (due to military service) to earn a Ph.D.

Another problem is that internships are being taken advantage of by hospital management as a way to use medical workers at a relatively bargain price. Recently, a union of interns and residents spoke up about their status and lack of rights, which has possibly influenced the medical insiders, observers say.

“Most of them sleep less than six hours a day, without proper weekends or holidays. They crash on small beds, always on-call, but are still paid less than the state-designated minimum wage,” a 31-year-old woman, who has just graduated from a medical graduate school and begun her internship, said. “Many people who have already spent an enormous amount of time and effort in entering medical school choose to become a physician with fixed working hours instead of practicing at a general hospital that requires more research longer hours,” she added.

The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences suggests the government abolish internships.

“The initial goal of the posts was to allow aspiring doctors to experience real medical fields and train directly but in reality, they are just being used as a cheap substitute for doctors because they work late, are paid less, and can’t complain. Also, many of them are stuck with immense amounts of paperwork that doesn’t need a doctor to tend to,” said researcher Kim Dae-hwan of the academy. “It would be more efficient to have more trained nurses tot ake care of this,” he added.

The ministry stated Monday that they are looking into all the options but have not yet decided whether a revision is necessary.