Gov't takes steps to promote dialogue with doctors

A mother takes care of her sick child at a hospital in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

The government is aiming for flexibility in addressing the prolonged conflict with doctors regarding the medical school quota hike policy, the prime minister's office said on Sunday. It noted that relevant administrative efforts have already commenced to facilitate constructive dialogue.

The move came as President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to draw up what he described as "flexible measures" in response to the government's decision to suspend the licenses of striking trainee doctors.

The president also ordered the establishment of an official consultation panel to facilitate dialogue with the doctors' community as soon as possible.

"While the government, the ruling People Power Party and the doctors' community hold differing positions, all parties acknowledge the urgency of resolving the ongoing situation swiftly, which is crucial due to the increasing suffering and anxiety experienced by the public," a high-ranking government official said.

The comments came shortly after Han Dong-hoon, interim chair of the ruling party, proposed a more flexible approach to the process of suspending the licenses of striking trainee doctors. This suggestion came after Han held a 50-minute closed-door meeting with representatives of the Medical Professors Association of Korea (MPAK), which represents professors from 39 medical schools.

"I will play the necessary part as a responsible politician," Han told reporters after the meeting.

The apparent change in tone in the government's position came amid the prolonged government-doctor standoff over Yoon's plan to add 2,000 more slots to enrollment quotas at medical schools, starting next year, against which more than 90 percent of the nation's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations.

The government says the policy is aimed at addressing a shortage of physicians, while the doctors' community claims that the quota expansion policy will compromise the quality of medical education and training.

The standoff was widely anticipated to reach a critical juncture this week, with the authorities determined to suspend the licenses of the striking trainee doctors who defied the government's return-to-work order, starting from Tuesday at the earliest.

In response, medical school professors, who hold the highest rank among medical professionals, were set to tender their resignations en masse beginning Monday, in solidarity with the trainee doctors.

With both sides showing little signs of backing off, the deadlock, which has already caused substantial disruptions for patients, such as the postponement and rescheduling of surgeries and other procedures, was feared to worsen.

Expressing their objection to the government's policy and calling for its withdrawal, professors of medical schools nationwide announced their intention to resign beginning Monday, and reduce their work hours to 52 hours a week — set as the official workweek by law — by adjusting the schedules of surgeries and other treatments.

These professors also said they will "minimize" their consultation hours for outpatients starting April 1, and focus on patients in critical or emergency situations.

Doctors walk through large hallway in a hospital in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Despite the looming resignations by medical professors, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stuck to its stance, saying it would respond to the collective actions of doctors, which it says are illegal, in accordance with relevant laws and guidelines.

It has already initiated the necessary administrative steps to suspend the licenses of striking doctors. The suspension of the licenses for up to three months is expected to begin on Tuesday for some.

According to the ministry, those who receive a three-month suspension of their license will be unable to fulfill the training period requirements, and this delay will consequently postpone their qualification as medical specialists by more than a year.

The presidential office urged trainee doctors to return to their respective hospitals before the procedure to suspend their licenses is completed, apparently mindful of concerns that doctors' protests are expected to intensify further if the suspension is actually implemented.

"We can take administrative and legal action against the striking trainee doctors as there are laws and principles. But, if possible, the government wishes not to take such steps," Sung Tae-yoon, director of national policy at the presidential office, said during a recent appearance on a KBS TV program.

In preparation for the prolonged medical services vacuum, the government will deploy on Monday an additional 200 military and public health doctors to hospitals that are affected by the nationwide walkout. That will raise the number of such doctors mobilized by the government to 413.

Military doctors are commissioned officers, while public health doctors are conscripts for supplementary service — a category of mandatory military service in Korea — that requires them to work in underserved areas for three years.

The government has also temporarily allowed senior doctors who operate local clinics to work at the affected hospitals upon request.