Nearly 30% of Korean regions have no emergency care specialists: lawmaker

According to data, 28.8 percent of the municipalities, counties, and districts in Korea had no emergency medicine specialists, three localities had no internal medicine specialists, and 14 had no pediatricians.

A lawmaker said on Monday that, based on these data, the appropriate allocation of medical personnel should be considered instead of increasing the number of medical schools.

According to the “Status of Active Physician Workforce by Locality and Specialty” data, Rep. Kim Sun-min of the splinter opposition Rebuilding Korea Party from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said that out of 229 municipalities, counties, and districts in Korea, 66 had no emergency medicine specialists.

Even if there were emergency medicine specialists, 147 areas had less than one per 1,000 people. Ninety-five had less than 0.5, and 52 had less than 1.0 emergency medicine specialists per 1,000 people.

The same was true for internal medicine specialists and pediatricians. Three of the 229 municipalities, counties, and districts in the country had no internal medicine specialists – Yeongyang County in North Gyeongsang Province, Ulleung County in North Gyeongsang Province, and Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang Province. No fewer than 218 of these areas had less than one internal medicine specialist per 1,000 people.

Of the 229 areas, 14 had no pediatricians. One-hundred-and-seventy-eight had less than one pediatrician per 1,000 people under 19.

Eleven had no obstetricians and gynecologists, and 216 had less than one obstetrician and gynecologist per 1,000 women.

The shortage of doctors was most severe in Goseong County, Gangwon Province. The total number of practicing doctors in Korea was 19,168, with 2.1 doctors per 1,000 people. However, Goseong had only eight active doctors, the lowest in the country, with 0.3 medical practicing doctors per 1,000 people.

Yangyang and Inje counties, also in Gangwon Province, had 0.4 doctors per 1,000 people 0.4, followed by the same province’s Hoengseong County with 0.6 and Jeongseon County with 0.7.

“Looking at the unbalanced distribution of practicing doctors by region, we can see why the public strongly demands an increase in the medical school enrollment quota,” Rep. Kim said. “The government should not only increase the number of medical schools but also consider how to deploy the increased doctors.”