Trainee doctors at ‘Big 5’ hospitals to resign en masse on Monday

Interns and residents at Korea’s "Big Five" hospitals have decided to submit their resignations by Monday and stop working from Tuesday.

Park Dan, head of the Korean Intern and Resident Association (KIRA), said the association came to this conclusion after discussions with representatives of the trainee doctors at the five largest hospitals on his social media account on Friday.

"From 11 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday, the representatives of medical residents at the five major hospitals -- Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, and the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital -- met near Seoul Station to urgently discuss how to respond to the current situation," Park said.

The trainee doctors at the five hospitals have decided to submit their resignations by Monday and stop working after 6 a.m. Tuesday, Park said. He added that the representatives of the interns and residents will serve as the members of the KIRA’s Emergency Committee, which will also conduct a survey on all training hospitals about their participation in the mass resignation.

Medical students have also begun to take collective action against the government's plans to increase medical school enrollment quotas. The method is likely to be the “boycott of classes.”

The Korean Medical College and Medical Graduate School Student Association unanimously decided to take collective action at an extraordinary general assembly on Tuesday. It announced that it would conduct a survey, collect the results, and make a final decision before embarking on a student strike.

Most medical students also agree with the need for collective action, including class boycotts, expressing their willingness to participate actively.

"I am willing to participate in the student strike. The overwhelming majority of students want to boycott classes. I think it's a stronger option than the other alternatives (among the struggle options available to medical students)," said a third-year student at a medical college. "I hope the public doesn't think that the medical students' collective action is just a selfish fight. We also could be patients if we are injured. We are joining the battle for fear of the backlash this policy will bring."

A second-year medical student at another school also said, "The idea of class boycott is being discussed because there seems to be no other alternative for us as students. I am not sure what the best course of action is, but I am willing to participate if collective action is necessary."

However, some questioned whether a student boycott will have enough impact.

"I think there is a sense of fatigue unlike in the past. I'm worried about how much of a ripple effect it will have," another sophomore said. "It's a shame that the situation has turned into this."

Others stressed the need to form solidarity with senior doctors. "I don't think there is any power if only students take the initiative in boycotting classes. I feel that solidarity with seniors is important," a senior student said.

Faced with differing views on the effectiveness of collective action by medical students, the medical policy response task force at each medical school is considering ways to unify the opinions of medical students.

"According to a survey, quite a few people disagreed with the student strike. As the priority of task force is to persuade those who disagree with the class boycott, we are refraining from making a drastic decision. I think we will proceed cautiously," a task force member said.

In contrast, others said that the medical school association needs to take a stronger stance.

"Some medical students say that the student association cannot be trusted. They want the student association to be more aggressive," a hardline member said. “How the student association handles things is too late and frustrating.”