(2nd LD) Gov’t reviews back-to-work order over medical professors’ potential resignation

SEOUL, The health ministry said Tuesday it will review issuing an order for medical professors to maintain work if they resign en masse in protest of a deadlock over a walkout by trainee doctors, calling for their restraint for the lives of patients. On Monday, medical school professors at Seoul National University (SNU) resolved to submit resignations en masse next week if the government fails to present "a reasonable breakthrough" in the prolonged walkout. Professors at several other medical schools have warned of following suit if the government fails to come forward for dialogue without conditions. "The resignation decision by the SNU professors threatens the lives and health of patients. I express serious concerns," Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. "I ask professors to stand by patients and work together with the government to persuade trainee doctors to return to work," he added. More than 90 percent of the country 's 13,000 trainee doctors walked off the job in the form of mass resignations more than three weeks ago to protest the government's decision to increase enrollment at medical schools by 2,000 spots starting next year to address a shortage of doctors. The current quota is 3,058. Asked about the government's responses to the possible resignations by medical professors, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo told reporters that the government is reviewing various administrative options. "The government is entitled to issue various orders to continue providing medical treatment, as professors are basically medical workers," Park said. "We will stick to the planned medical school quota hike, but doors for dialogue remain open." The health minister held a closed-door meeting Monday with some trainee doctors in an effort to resolve their protracted walkout, the first such talks between the minister and doctors since the walkout, Park added. The government, however, has stressed its firm stance against striking doctors. As of Monday, the government had sent prior notices of license suspension to a total of 5,556 trainee doctors who have defied the state return-to-work order. As medical service disruptions have worsened, the health ministry on Tuesday opened a hotline to protect physicians who returned to work or are wishing to return. The government has also deployed military surgeons and public health doctors at strike-hit hospitals to help care for patients affected by the walkout. Along with the medical school enrollment expansion, the health ministry vowed to swiftly implement a set of measures to reform and improve the state medical system. One of the measures is enforcing new hospitals to hire more fellow doctors by counting two trainee doctors as one specialist, which aims to ease the burden on trainee doctors and have them better focus on their training. Currently, the country's medical system heavily relies on intern and resident doctors, particularly in terms of emergency and acute health care duties . Trainee doctors accounted for around 40 percent of major hospitals, far higher than 10 percent in hospitals in other major countries, according to ministry data. "The government will revise the policy on fellow doctors in charge of inpatients and expand pilot programs about duties of nurses to better support the operation of the medical system that centers on specialists and to improve service quality," Park said. The government is pushing to increase the admission quota to address a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as high-risk surgeries, pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine. Given the rapid population aging and other issues, the country is also expected to run short of 15,000 doctors by 2035. But doctors argue that the quota hikes would compromise the quality of medical education and services and create a surplus of physicians, and the government must devise ways of better protecting them from malpractice suits and extending compensation to induce more physicians to practice in such "unpopular" areas. Source: Yonhap News Agency