While a drama about life on Jeju Island continues to captivate many K-drama watchers, a spin-off of a popular Korean medical drama is off to a good start on channel tvN. "Resident Playbook" is the third show in the popular "Hospital Playlist" series featuring a younger cast of junior doctors in their first year of OB-GYN training, one of the departments struggling to find new recruits in the face of South Korea's declining birth rates. The Gen Z residents are smart and often try to speak their minds without always communicating effectively, especially with older generations.
The drama's premier was delayed, perhaps because of how the subject matter intersected with the doctor training controversy that engulfed the nation last year.
In a latest turn of events, the government has frozen the hotly contested medical school enrollment quota at 3,058 in an apparent concession to doctors over the medical reform scheme launched by former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Education Ministry last week announced that the admission quota for medical schools for the 2026 academic year will be 3,058, not 5,058 as previously planned. The move means the reform scheme, which aimed to add 2,000 more annual admission slots to train doctors, is not likely to proceed. However, friction between the government and doctors won't easily be resolved. The Korean Medical Association took to the streets, demanding that the administration — now led by acting President Han Duck-soo — apologize, rescind the reforms and start from scratch.
The drama depicts the young residents as being constantly on call and facing grueling shifts of up to 80 hours a week to learn their profession, all the while navigating the challenges of their personal lives. Their youthful energy connected with both my personal and professional experiences this last year. I remember the rush of gratitude I felt when I was able to secure a bed in an emergency room in a city outside of Seoul in February, after fainting from what turned out to be dehydration from more than three hours spent in a hot spring. Others have not been successful over this past year, as we have seen. The medical conflict that besieged the nation is hopefully in its final throes.
The former Yoon administration, with its typical unilateralist style, attempted to push the reforms through, but instead found the doctors to be formidable negotiators. The Kim Dae-jung administration in 2000 offered to reduce enrollment quotas by 351 seats in order to meet its goal of separating the prescribing and dispensing of medicine. The Moon Jae-in adminstration's reform attempt faced resistance where doctors-to-be refused to take the national medical exam. More recently, during the short-lived martial law of Dec. 3, clause three of the declaration ordered trainee doctors and all other medical personnel to return to work within 48 hours or face punishment, which further fueled the junior doctors' anger.
A large majority of South Koreans acknowledge that change must be embraced in order to address the coming challenges of an aging society and the decrease of doctors in fundamental departments, such as pediatrics and emergency medicine, and increasing the supply of doctors in rural areas. But after those challenges have been acknowledged, there must be a transition to negotiations, which is where we currently see each side shift to a zero-sum mentality rather than cede any benefits or privileges.
Medical reform is a challenging and difficult task. However, South Korea is already a super-aged society, with 20 percent of its population 65 years old or older. Among the OECD member nations, it has one of the lowest number of doctors at just 3.7 per 1,000 people. Despite this year's gloomy economic forecast, Korea remains among the top Asian and global economies. The same skills of negotiation and compromise that we have learned in building the economy should be applied in tackling medical reform.
The writer is a member of The Korea Times editorial board.