Medical professors urge junior doctors to resume training, pledge full support

As the deadline for the second-half recruitment approaches, medical school professors urged trainee doctors to “stop hesitating and return to their training hospitals as soon as possible.”

The professors also called for the government and National Assembly to accept the three demands presented by the emergency committee of the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA) to support the normalization of healthcare services and the recovery of core (essential) medical departments.

If junior doctors return to the hospitals, professors will do their best as close colleagues and educators,” the emergency committee of the Medical Professors' Association of Korea (MPAK) said in a statement issued on Monday. “We will ensure the continuity and quality of training and serve as strong supporters for trainee doctors to learn and grow in a stable environment.”

The committee also requested that the government “establish sustainable measures to protect critical and core medical services” and that “reasonable institutional improvements be made to ensure that medical residents who enlisted as military doctors or public health doctors this year do not suffer any disadvantages.” It also emphasized the need to guarantee quotas for the resumption of their training.

Additionally, the committee demanded that the Medical Policy Consultation Body and the Public Discussion Committee operate in parallel, and that junior doctors' voices be reflected in the process. It also called for strengthening legal safeguards and improving treatment for medical residents.