A group of South Korean senior doctors said Saturday (Mar 16) that they would resign starting Mar 25 in support of junior medics in a nearly month-long strike over government training reforms that has plunged hospitals into chaos.
Thousands of trainee doctors stopped working on Feb 20 to protest government reforms aimed at easing doctor shortages by increasing the number of medical students – which the medics claim is the final straw for overworked and underpaid early career professionals.
Crucial surgeries and treatments have been cancelled, but the government says the country has so far avoided a full-blown crisis thanks in part to nurses and senior doctors stepping up, as well as military medics who have been sent in to help.
Representatives of medical professors at 20 universities – who are also senior doctors at general hospitals – held a meeting late Friday, with those at 16 institutions “overwhelmingly in favour” of supporting their junior colleagues, said Bang Jae-seung, the head of the group.
Professors at “each university have decided to voluntarily submit resignation letters starting from Mar 25”, Bang told reporters Saturday.
But “we have reached a consensus that until the resignation is finalised, each individual should do their best in the treatment of patients in their respective positions, just as they have done so far”, he added.
Bang did not disclose the exact number of professors expected to walk off the job on Mar 25.
AFP
