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Jindo County's 1st-ever pediatric clinic opens
Pediatrician Kim Hyun-tae sees a child patient at his clinic that opened on June 1 in Jindo County, South Jeolla Province. Courtesy of Jindo County office
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
The first-ever pediatric clinic in Jindo County, South Jeolla Province, opened earlier this month, providing convenience to residents who had to drive at least an hour to take their sick children to a hospital.
According to the county office, Thursday, pediatrician Kim Hyun-tae's clinic began offering medical services to patients under the age of 18 on June 1.
The opening of the pediatric clinic in Jindo is drawing attention at a time when a deepening shortage of medical facilities for children and pediatric physicians in the country has become a major concern.
The shortage is mainly attributed to a falling birthrate and a growing reluctance among medical students to specialize in pediatrics due to a heavy workload and low pay compared to other popular fields such as plastic surgery.
The shortage of pediatric physicians has been more serious in regions outside Seoul due mainly to the lower pay in addition to many doctors' reluctance to live in regional areas because they want to educate their children in big cities where some of the best schools are located.
Until last month, Jindo was one of 58 regions in Korea that do not have a pediatric clinic. Parents in that small town, with a population of 30,000, had to drive about an hour to go to a hospital in the bigger city of Mokpo when their children were sick.
The 60-year-old doctor with 31 years of experience opens his clinic until late on Tuesday and Wednesday nights and every other Saturday for the patients' convenience.
After graduating from Chonnam National University's College of Medicine, Kim ran a pediatric clinic in Gwangju for eight years from 2000 and then worked for general hospitals in Suncheon and Gwangyang as well as Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province.
“It is very fortunate that our children can receive medical services more conveniently. I will continue to make efforts to create a child-friendly town to address the falling birthrate in Jindo,” Jindo Mayor Kim Hee-soo said.
County officials said there are plans to operate a pediatric ward with beds for 10 children, beginning in July.