Medical School Admission Seats: South Korea's medical professors announce to join protests

South Korea: Medical professors in South Korea have announced their decision to reduce their practice hours starting Monday in solidarity with trainee doctors who have been on strike for over a month. The strike was initiated in protest against a government proposal to increase medical school admissions.

“It is clear that increasing medical school admissions will not only ruin medical school education but cause our country’s healthcare system to collapse,” Kim Chang-soo, the president of the Medical Professors Association of Korea, told reporters.

He said the professors will start scaling back outpatient treatment to focus on emergency and severely ill patients, while some will submit their resignations.

According to a Gallup poll released on March 15, 38% said the government was doing a good job dealing with backlash from doctors and the medical void amid the doctors’ strike while 49% said “not a good job”, reports Reuters.

 Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that in a bold move, South Korean authorities have announced the suspension of licenses for two senior doctors, marking the first punitive action against physicians amidst ongoing protests by medical interns and residents. The protests, which have spanned several weeks, have significantly disrupted hospital operations across the nation. 

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