Eighty-six percent of medical residents and interns will participate in collective action if the government increases the medical school enrollment quota, according to a survey released by the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA).

However, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) declined to comment in detail, saying the announcement was made without prior consultation.

On Monday, KIRA announced the results of a survey on participation in collective action conducted at some hospitals. According to the survey, 86 percent of respondents said they would participate in a collective action.

KIRA said the survey was conducted at 55 hospitals (with 27 having 500 or more beds). These hospitals employ an estimated 4,200 physicians. The organization did not disclose the specific number of physicians who participated in the survey. Currently, the number of medical residents and interns is about 15,000.

Two of the "big five" hospitals participated in the survey, and 85 percent and 80 percent of junior doctors there said they would take collective action. The comparable figures at four private university hospitals in Seoul were 86 percent, 84 percent, 89 percent, and 94 percent. Those of two private university hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan region were 79 percent and 88 percent.

In hospitals outside of the greater Seoul area, the share of young physicians willing to participate in collective action was over 90 percent. Six of the seven hospitals surveyed had participation rates of 92 percent, 94 percent, 96 percent, 98 percent, 97 percent, and 91 percent. Only one showed a rate of 82 percent.

KIRA said that the individual training hospital conducted the survey, adding that the association would survey all junior doctors on how they plan to respond to the expansion of medical school students and whether they will participate in collective action.

"We must think about whether there is a real shortage of doctors. The OECD data alone shows that Korean healthcare is already at the highest level through various indicators excluding the number of doctors, such as life expectancy and treatable mortality rates for cancer and cardiovascular diseases," said Park Dan, chair of KIRA and emergency medicine doctor at Severance Hospital, "We also must establish joint governance between the government and the medical community and provide scientific evidence to estimate the supply and demand for doctors accurately."

Park pointed out that medical disputes in Korea are also among the highest worldwide, and doctors are overworked for more than 80 hours a week.

Under these circumstances, he noted that even if the government increases the number of medical school students, no one will be willing to practice essential medicine. To solve the problem of avoiding essential medicine, the KIRA head added that Korea must focus on strengthening essential medicine, reorganizing the medical delivery system, taking measures to sustain health insurance financing, easing the legal burden of medical accidents, and improving the training environment for specialists.

"We are in close communication with the Emergency Preparedness Committee of the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Graduate Medical Schools to discuss future responses,” Park said. “We are coordinating a schedule to hold a formal emergency preparedness meeting with them shortly."

A senior KMA official refrained from elaborating on KIRA’s announcement.

"This survey was conducted independently without prior consultation with the Korean Medical Association,” said Lee Jeong-geun, KMA’s senior vice president, in a telephone interview with Korea Biomedical Review. “We will clarify our position through a spokesperson later."