President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement to push for increasing the medical school enrollment quota and healthcare reform, even after the crushing defeat in the 22nd general election, has left the medical community stunned.The government's adamant push makes it difficult for trainee doctors to return
Following Somzz, the first digital treatment device (DTx) in Korea, WELT-I has won approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and has begun to be prescribed to patients. Still, experts point out that expanding DTx prescriptions remains challenging.Better Therapeutics, which has been approved
As the government and the medical community debate the increase in medical school enrollment quota, it has been suggested that Korea should learn from Japan, which increased medical school students and operates a regional quota system to solve the problem of regional medical disparities ahead of Kor
Senior doctors, who complained of "burnout" and vowed to work only 52 hours a week to prevent patient safety incidents due to striking junior doctors, have not been able to reduce their workload in reality.That’s because when they reduce their treatment by curtailing working hours, the hospital's “i
A 33-month-old girl, rescued from an irrigation ditch while her parents were working on a farm in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province, died after a tertiary hospital refused to receive her, local media reports said. Nonetheless, an emergency medicine specialist noted that a tertiary hospital transfer
Senior doctors who both practice medicine and teach medical school students are resigning across the country.As of Monday morning, 433 professors at three hospitals affiliated with the University of Ulsan College of Medicine—Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University Hospital, and GangNeung Asan Hospital
Medical costs for cancer treatment exceeded 10 trillion won ($7.5 billion) for the first time in Korea last year.According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) analysis of malignant neoplasm treatment status over the past five years, the number of cancer increased by 18.1 per
The allocation of increased medical school enrollment quota announced by the government is nothing more than an adjustment of quotas to solve the long-cherished wishes of private university hospitals, an opposition lawmaker said Wednesday.Some medical schools are located in provinces but educate the
Korean trainee doctors, seeking intervention from the International Labor Organization (ILO) to defy the government's return-to-work order, were rejected as ineligible for an opinion, the Korean government said.Earlier, the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA) sent an urgent intervention request
Professors at Korea’s five most prestigious medical schools are moving to resign en masse.Following the plan of their counterparts at Seoul National University College of Medicine, professors at Yonsei University College of Medicine have decided to submit their resignations next Monday.The Yonsei Un
Legal experts debated the effective timing of trainee physicians' resignation letters at a meeting convened by Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, titled "How to interpret the legal issues related to the medical crisis," held at the National Assembly on Thursday.Recently, the gove
Professors from Seoul National University (SNU) College of Medicine have proposed forming a consultative body to resolve the ongoing medical turmoil, which would include the government, the medical community, lawmakers, medical residents, and civic groups representing the public.They also suggested
Professors at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, including those at Asan Medical Center (AMC) in Seoul, have agreed to submit their resignations in protest against the government's decision to suspend the licenses of resigned interns and residents.The emergency committee of the University
University hospitals are grappling with financial difficulties amid prolonged walkouts by trainee doctors, medical sources said.These hospitals have cut back on medical services due to the exodus of interns and residents. As the collective action enters the third week, declining revenue is leading t
Forty medical schools nationwide have requested to enroll an additional 3,401 students for the 2025 academic year, according to government officials on Tuesday.If the government accepts such requests, the medical school enrollment quota will more than double the current 3,058.The Ministry of Health
The government's survey, demanding adjustments to the medical school enrollment quotas of 40 universities with medical programs, is scheduled to conclude at midnight on Thursday.Against this backdrop, university presidents and medical professors at some universities clash with each other over this c
Professor Keum Ki-chang of radiation oncology at Yonsei University College of Medicine has been appointed as CEO and President of Yonsei University Health System (YUHS) and YUHS Vice President for Health Sciences, Severance Hospital said on Tuesday. His term will begin on March 1 and will last for f
The government has concluded that the recent death of a cardiac arrest patient in her 80s in Daejeon while being transported by ambulance was not related to "emergency rooms’ refusal to accept patients.”The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that it reached such a conclusion after conductin
Proponents of the medical school enrollment quota increase have maintained that Korea needs to lower doctors’ income to an optimal level by expanding the number of physicians and avoiding falling into a “medical school black hole.”The "medical school black hole" in Korea refers to a phenomenon where
The government says it will consider using physician assistant (PA) nurses to fill the healthcare gap caused by the mass resignation of junior doctors, but most hospitals do not see it as a realistic option.That’s because PAs are already working in hospitals, but the legality of their practice is am