Junior doctors defy government's resignation deadline amid coercion claims

Monday, the deadline for trainee doctors to notify the government whether they will resign or return to work, has arrived. However, the junior doctors are determined to "make no response."

A week ago, the government asked training hospitals to decide whether to accept trainee doctors’ resignation letters until July 15 at a regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. In response, the training hospitals sent out notices to their trainee doctors, asking them to inform them whether to resign or return within the deadline.

As the deadline for resignation or reinstatement approached, some trainee doctors reportedly tried to persuade their resigned colleagues to return. On Sunday, a Telegram conversation purportedly made by some of the doctors was leaked to the internet community. The conversation alleged that some trainee doctors used unfair methods to induce their resigned colleagues to return to work.

"A hospital’s intern and resident leader interfered with the free exercise of individual rights and illegally used personal information acquired on the job to persuade resigned trainee doctors to return,” the Telegram conversation alleged.

The resigned trainee doctors said they would stick to the “no response” position to requests from training hospitals to confirm their resignation or reinstatement. Some resigned trainee doctors said they have heard about some trainee doctors’ persuasion of resigned colleagues to return on the community website, but they have not experienced such persuasion.

"All trainee doctors at our hospital decided to make ‘no response’ to the confirmation of resignation by the training hospital," said a trainee doctor who resigned after working at an emergency room of a university hospital in the Seoul metro region in a phone conversation with Korea Biomedical Review on Sunday, adding that the government's unfounded healthcare policies solidified his decision to resign.

"There are few applicants for emergency medicine, so there is no big change whether the medical school students increased or the essential healthcare policy package is implemented," he said. "However, I think it is unfair for the government to proceed with medical policies without sufficient grounds because emergency physicians can go to jail depending on such policies.”

He continued, "I don't know that there are any persuasions for trainee doctors to return to work. Some professors tried to persuade me to come back because they were busy in the ER. They even told me that it was time to come back, saying I had resigned because I was upset."

Another trainee doctor who resigned while working as an intern at a hospital in the Chungcheong area also said, "All interns and residents at the hospital I was working decided to maintain the “no response, no reply” stance. I don't think there will be a big change in the intention of most trainee doctors to resign. I don't think it's as common as the stories I've seen in the community about trainee doctors trying to persuade their resigned colleagues to come back.

A dermatology resident at a university hospital in the greater Seoul area, also said, "The medical residents at my hospital decided not to respond to the request of the training hospital as a group. The same is true for dermatologists across the country."

She continued, “I haven't received any direct cajoling to return (from other trainee doctors, professors, or hospitals). I've seen Telegram conversations in the community but I don't know if they've been confirmed. Still, I've heard that one hospital in Gyeonggi Province is threatening its medical residents so some may return to work."

Some also expressed the view that trainee doctors adhere to the “no response” stance because they are worried that the training hospitals will try to pass the blame for the situation on to them by, for instance, charging junior doctors with indemnity.

A trainee doctor who resigned as an emergency medicine resident at a university hospital in the Jeolla area, said, "The government seems to think that someone should be responsible for this situation. They are asking the hospital to take responsibility and accept resignation letters."

He continued, "The hospital will try to blame the doctor, saying, 'It was the doctor's choice.’ We trainee doctors should stay silent. I know that most trainee doctors around me are making no responses. The government is doing it wrong."

Some trainee doctors were also wary of generalizing the content of Telegram chat rooms to the opinions of all junior doctors.

"There are some stories on Telegram that some trainee doctors are compiling a list of returnees, but they are in the minority. Most of the general resigned trainee doctors are unaware of it," the trainee doctor from the Jeolla area said.

He continued, "With over 10,000 trainee doctors, opinions can vary widely. To assume that all trainee doctors are like this because of a few stories that are a bit out of the ordinary is like the government demonizing doctors."