2024-03-28 02:35:49
“I have never once asked for the voices of local communities in the field of essential medical care.”
The director of a famous small and medium-sized hospital in the province that specializes in cerebrovascular diseases complained, “The government doesn’t know much about the field.” It is necessary to listen to the voices of the field and conduct an accurate analysis on why young doctors these days do not support essential medical care and why they do not want to work in non-metropolitan areas. Regarding the government’s 2,000-person increase and essential medical policy package, he also said, “It is nothing more than a declarative announcement.” A sophisticated medical policy design is needed, but the current medical policies do not.
The legislative dialogue held by Prime Minister Han Deok-soo with the medical community on the 26th was also a ‘half-length’ dialogue without residents and professor representatives attending. President Yoon Seok-yeol’s request to form a constructive consultative body may have meant listening to voices from the field, but the medical community criticized the meeting attended only by university presidents and hospital directors, saying it was a ‘show for the general election’.
Everyone knows that the answer to the problem lies in the field. However, it is unclear whether the government is actually making efforts to listen to voices from the field. What the government should listen to are the voices of medical school professors who have recently submitted resignation letters, medical students who have submitted notices of leave of absence, and residents who have left the hospital for more than a month. Of course, you won’t be full on the first drink, but I believe that efforts to communicate first with on-site doctors are more important than anything else in resolving the situation.
I think that the attempt itself is a good one when Chairman Han Dong-hoon of the People Power Party Emergency Response Committee recently met with Kim Chang-soo, Chairman of the National Medical University Professors Association (KMA), and others to mediate. However, it is unclear whether what the residents really wanted was ‘a postponement of the suspension of the doctor’s license’. Immediately, Ryu Ok-Ha, a former intern representative at the Catholic Central Medical Center (CMC), said, “Professors cannot represent the voices of residents,” and “It is absurd.”
The lack of voices from the field was the same even at the expert debate on the 21st where the government explained the essential medical package. On this day, there was a discussion meeting to discuss improvements in the treatment of medical residents, and medical school professors, hospital directors, and specialists attended. However, not a single resident, the person responsible for improving treatment, attended.
After the discussion, the government announced on the 25th that it would review measures to support training costs to improve the working environment and treatment of residents and establish a dedicated organization to solve residents’ problems. However, it is questionable whether residents really want this policy, what concerns they currently have, and whether their voices from the field are reflected.
The director of a local hospital said, “Young doctors these days use the phrase ‘make money quickly and run away with this country.’” He asked, “Why did anesthesiology professors at Seoul Asan Medical Center, the largest hospital in Korea, collectively resign? “We need to take a deeper look into whether the top graduates who entered medical school are preparing to beat specialists and open their own practices,” he said. It should also be taken into account that the more the government treats doctors as criminals, the less willing they will be to return to hospitals. A solution to this situation will come only when we listen to the voices of doctors who have left or are planning to leave the hospital.
Jinhan Lee, medical reporter and doctor likeday@donga.com
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2024-03-28 02:35:49