The Korean Medical Association (KMA) has appointed Park Dan, head of the emergency committee of the Korean Intern Resident Association, as a vice chairman of its executive board.

This is the first time a trainee doctor has been included in the KMA leadership, the nation’s largest doctors’ group.

“To reflect the voices of junior doctors and medical students who bear the brunt of the ongoing medical crisis, we have appointed Park as vice chairman and greatly expanded the participation of other trainee doctors,” new KMA President Kim Take-woo told a news conference after announcing the executive board members on Thursday.

The new executive board included many young doctors born in the 1990s.

Accordingly, KMA appointed trainee doctors as its directors responsible for planning, public relations, policymaking, and international cooperation.

The KMA leadership also drew many medical professors to the executive board to “shed the stigma that KMA is an organization of general practitioners.”

For instance, it appointed Professor Kim Sung-geun of the Catholic University of Korea Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital as the KMA spokesman, and Professor Lee Woo-yong of the Samsung Medical Center as a vice chairman.

‘Old and new generations should work together to solve the medical crisis’

KMA President Kim described the appointment as “harmonizing the new and old generations.”

“The main pillars bolstering the medical community in this crisis are trainee doctors and medical students. We decided that it was most important to organize them so that their voices could be heard, and we will work together to solve the problem with Vice Chairman Park Dan,” Kim said. “The additional appointments will allow more junior doctors to join us.”

Kim added that medical students' role is also important. When he campaigned for the KMA presidency, he promised to grant them associate membership.

Reiterating his resolve to “solve the medical crisis by bringing together the new and old generations,” Kim again called for a “master plan for medical education” from the government.

He emphasized that the government, which suddenly increased the number of medical school students by 2,000 despite the controversy over the lack of educational infrastructure, should present a solution.

“Only after the master plan comes out will medical professors or students accept it, and education can be normalized,” Kim said. “It is preposterous to gather students’ opinions before that. Look at who caused this situation. The people who created this crisis should come up with solutions and alternatives. The government should be the one to answer, not us.”

He said that the issue of medical school students for the class of 2026 can only be discussed after seeing the government's master plan.

“The most important thing is how to normalize medical education. It's not possible to have practical education. I will listen to the government's opinion on education first,” he said. “I don’t know when, but only the student number has emerged as the core point of contention, which is different from reality. The fundamental cause of the problem is the avoidance of certain departments, but we are mired in playing with numbers.”

Regarding a permanent body to conduct the government-doctor dialogue, Kim said, “Currently, discussions are conducted unilaterally, and decisions are made unilaterally. There is no need for such a body.”

He repeated that the policies pushed by the Special Committee on Healthcare Reform should be “stopped.”