SEOUL – A group of medical professors from the Catholic University of Korea has declared a boycott of training programs for junior doctors, escalating a standoff with the government over its handling of striking trainees and planned increases in medical school admissions.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the professors will not participate in training programs scheduled for the latter half of the year, protesting the government’s decision to accept resignations from striking junior doctors and its plans to significantly raise medical school admissions. This announcement comes as more than 90 percent of the approximately 13,000 junior doctors walked off their jobs in February, opposing the government’s admissions policy. Following this, hospitals accepted resignations from 7,648 trainees this week at the government’s request.
The health ministry is actively recruiting new trainees to minimize disruption caused by the mass resignations, with hospitals seeking a combined total of 7,707 training doctors for programs beginning in September. However, the professors emphasized that replacing doctors who resigned in protest with new trainees would undermine the quality of training, stating, “normal training will never be possible” if the government and hospitals proceed with their current plans.
The situation is exacerbated by a broader dissatisfaction among doctors, who argue that the increased admissions quotas will compromise the quality of medical education and the overall standard of medical services in the country. Despite these concerns, the government has finalized a plan to increase admissions quotas by approximately 1,500 students for next year, aiming to address the doctor shortage.
Further developments are expected as more professors from the Catholic University of Korea are likely to join the boycott, with the school’s emergency response committee planning to announce its official stance next week.