“Cardiothoracic surgery is 19.57 to 1, and general surgery is 3.4 to 1.”Of course, this is not the case in Korea. These were the competition rates for medical specialties in the U.K. in 2022. Unlike Korea, “vital departments” like cardiothoracic surgery and general surgery are popular among doctors
Medical interns and residents are writing letters of resignation, prompted by the government’s announcement on Tuesday to increase the number of medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from next year.These trainee doctors also protested the government's essential healthcare-enhancing policy package
As the government prepares to announce an increase in medical school enrollment quotas before the Lunar New Year holidays, the medical community is on edge.Following an emergency meeting by the Korean Intern and Resident Association (KIRA) last Friday, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) held a boa
A bill has passed the National Assembly's plenary session, restricting medical residents from working more than 80 hours weekly.The new law will also prohibit doctor trainees from working more than 36 hours in a row and provide the basis for prioritizing the fostering of specialists in essential med
The number of cases of norovirus infection has surged, reaching the highest level in five years.In addition, various respiratory infections, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), have broken out, prompting the health authorities to rush to activate the emergency quarantine system.The Korea Di
Following the subsiding of the Covid-19 pandemic and a return to normalcy, influenza cases in Korea witnessed a remarkable surge of over 9,000 percent from 2021 to 2022. Yet, over the past four years, there has been a consistent annual decrease in the number of flu cases, averaging 25 percent.The Na
As the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) considers expanding the HPV (human papillomavirus) national immunization program to 12-year-old boys while only covering the first dose, the medical community criticized it as a "half-measure."A single dose is not enough to provide protection
Criticism is mounting that the National Assembly recommends oriental infertility treatment that has not been scientifically proven to be safe and effective.Critics point out the unreasonableness of the “Amendment to the Maternal and Child Health Act,” which passed the plenary session of the National
Trauma surgeon Lee Cook-jong, who saved a North Korean soldier from multiple gunshot wounds after his dash through the inter-Korean truce village in 2017, has been named head of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik announced on Wednesday that he named Lee, who currently w
One of the reasons doctors shy away from vital care is judicial risk. They have to treat patients with the risk of criminal penalties and hundreds of millions of won in damages. Even President Yoon Suk Yeol has spoken about the need to ease the legal burden for physicians.Studies have shown that Kor
"The U.S. has low medical productivity, which makes it very difficult for patients to see a doctor in a growing population. On the other hand, Korea has very high medical productivity, making it very easy for patients to see a doctor with a shrinking population."An engineer, not a doctor, said so in
The number of children infected with Mycoplasma pneumonia is surging, raising concerns about a potential "pediatric care crisis," according to warnings from pediatricians in Korea.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) conducted a nationwide sampling of 218 hospital-level medical ins
Sixty Korean scientists have been ranked among the "top 1 percent" of the world's most influential researchers. In particular, 10 of them are among the top 1 percent of researchers in clinical medicine. All of them are specialists in hematology-oncology.Clarivate, a global scholarly information anal
Korean researchers have developed the world's first technology for high-speed three-dimensional imaging of blood cells in blood vessels without contrast agents.The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said Wednesday that a research team led by Professor Oh Wang-yuhl of the Depa
Even in the United States, a "litigation paradise," Americans take caution in medical suits. Doctors are criminally prosecuted for malpractice unless "willfulness" is proven. In civil cases, too, many states have statutory caps on damages to prevent doctors from being overburdened.The U.S. judicial
Three Korean medical schools have been ranked among the top 100 medical schools in the world. Yonsei University was the highest-ranked among Korean medical schools.This is part of the result of the “World University Rankings 2024” in the clinical and health category, released by Times Higher Educati
The entire nation is buzzing about the expansion of the medical school enrollment quota.No one knows how many medical school students will be added or how they will be allocated. Still, private academies are stepping up their "medical school marketing," and localities have joined the race to secure
The medical community is cautious about adding more doctors, but the political community’s pressure is intense.After the government announced its intention to increase the medical school enrollment quota, politicians demanded that it be allocated to new medical schools.The government has decided to
The government’s loose management of psychotropic medicines, classified as narcotics, was put on the chopping block of the National Assembly’s administrative audit.Lawmakers pointed out that reasons for “medical shopping,” in which people visit 135 medical institutions a year to get sleeping anesthe
The government should expand medical personnel and hospital beds to prepare for the resurge of Covid-19 cases during the coming winter, a lawmaker said Friday."Despite the serious situation where the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to increase, the numbers of medical personnel and d