Korean Medical Association “Participation must be stopped when increasing the number of medical schools”
The President’s Office establishes a new ‘Medical Manpower Supply and Demand Estimation Organization’ under the President’s Special Committee on Medical Reform. The intention is to establish a permanent expert organization to broadly reflect the positions and demands of the medical community in the process of expanding medical schools to determine the size of the future doctor workforce. However, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) expressed its position that it is difficult to participate in this organization under the current situation, saying, “The first thing to do is to stop the increase in personnel for next year, which is being promoted without any basis.”
In a phone call with the Dong-A Ilbo on the 29th, a high-ranking official from the Presidential Office said, “The key is to allow medical groups to recommend a majority of experts who will reflect their opinions well,” and added, “The right to recommend a majority is an opportunity for medical groups to discuss.” “It’s a message asking you to come out,” he explained.
The medical manpower supply and demand estimation organization is comprised of 10 to 15 experts for each division, and the physician division plans to give a majority of the expert recommendation rights to the physician group. The number of medical personnel needed in the future is estimated based on the number of medical school graduates, Korea’s population structure, and health insurance data, and then the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee makes the final decision on the size of medical personnel needed. The government plans to finalize the installation and operation details and announce them on the 30th.
The President’s Office maintains that this estimation organization is separate from the ruling and opposition party consultative body previously proposed by the National Assembly. A senior official said, “(The estimation organization) was announced by the government before the ruling and opposition party council came into existence.” The President’s Office believes that the estimation organization will be able to be used as an auxiliary organization if the ruling and opposition parties’ consultative body is activated and a reasonable plan to increase the number of medical schools after the 2026 school year is drawn up.
The doctors’ group’s position is, ‘We must stop increasing the number of doctors next year in order to review whether to participate in the organization to estimate the number of doctors.’ Anna Choi, spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, pointed out, “What is the meaning of making scientific estimates after the entire current medical system has collapsed?” Cho Seung-rae, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, “(The establishment of a new supply and demand estimation organization) is, to put it conversely, an admission that the current government’s plan to increase medical schools was created in a haphazard manner, regardless of the system.”
Presidential Office: “Number of doctors will be verified by new organization”… 野 “I’m going to increase the number of troops.”
[의료공백 장기화]
Government “Establishes a new organization to estimate supply and demand for the number of doctors”… Office of the President: “Majority of recommendation to medical groups”
Refusal to participate in the Korean Medical Association: “Stop increasing troops first”
Democratic Party: “We will propose to legislate the system”
The government plans to soon establish a supply and demand estimation organization for the number of doctors recommended by a majority of medical groups and encourage doctors to engage in dialogue. However, the Korean Medical Association, a legal organization, made it clear that it would reject the recommendation, saying, “The first priority is to stop increasing the number of medical schools for the 2025 school year.” The Democratic Party of Korea said, “This is an admission that the government’s plan to increase the number of medical schools was made in a haphazard manner,” and suggested ‘legislation of an organization to estimate the number of doctors’ supply and demand’ as an alternative.● The majority will be filled based on recommendations from medical groups.
The President’s Special Committee on Medical Reform (Special Committee on Medical Reform) included in the first implementation plan for medical reform announced at the end of last month that the majority of the physician manpower subcommittee of the Medical Manpower Supply and Demand Estimation Expert Committee (Special Committee) will be filled with recommendations from medical groups. In the interim announcement in June, he said, “To collect opinions, we will include the majority of the physician human resource advisory committee as representatives of medical organizations,” but this time, even when discussing the appropriate number of doctors in earnest, the majority of the medical organizations were promised.
Through this, the President’s Office plans to engage medical groups in dialogue and arrive at a scale of increase in medical schools that doctors can accept. The expert committee will be created within the year. An official from the Presidential Office explained, “Initially, we planned to establish an estimation organization 3 to 5 years after the expansion of medical schools was completed to some extent, but the launch date was brought forward due to opposition from medical groups that said there was ‘no scientific basis’.”
The specialized committee is organized by department, such as doctors, nurses, dentists, and oriental medical doctors, and 10 to 15 experts participate in each department. The expert committee determines variables and calculation methods for each division and then requests the Medical Manpower Supply and Demand Estimation Center within the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs to calculate the number of medical manpower needed in the future.
● Korean Medical Association: “Stop increasing the number of medical schools next year first.”
The establishment of a scientific estimation organization to derive the appropriate number of doctors is an issue that medical groups have continuously requested. The Korean Residents’ Association, an organization of medical residents (interns and residents), proposed ‘establishing a scientific doctor supply and demand estimation organization’ as one of the ‘seven demands’ announced immediately after leaving the hospital.
However, this is a plan to stop the ongoing medical school expansion process and take time to discuss it, which is different from the position of the President’s Office, which calls for next year’s medical school expansion as planned and discussing the appropriate number of doctors. Anna Choi, spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, said, “Scientific estimates are possible without the current medical system collapsing. We can make expert recommendations, but the first thing to do is to stop increasing the number of medical schools next year and return to a situation where education is possible.”
There are also concerns among doctors that they may only end up as sidekicks. Even if the medical group recommends the majority, if user groups such as the Korean Hospital Association have the right to recommend, many experts who are in favor of increasing the number of staff can be included. In addition, there is an atmosphere of concern that the final decision after discussion by the expert committee is made by the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee (Revision Review), chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare and majority comprised of the government and civic groups.
● Democratic Party “We are all for increasing the number of government medical schools”
In response to the President’s Office’s proposal, the Democratic Party expressed its position that “a system for calculating the appropriate number of medical school students must be legislated.” Cho Seung-rae, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said at a press conference that day, “The fact that the President’s office announced that it will establish a new organization to estimate the supply and demand of medical personnel is an admission that the current medical school expansion plan was created haphazardly and without any system.” The Democratic Party plans to soon propose an amendment to the Higher Education Act to legislate an organization to estimate the number of doctors.
Reporter Shin Na-ri [email protected]
Reporter Cho Yu-ra [email protected]
Reporter Kwon Gu-yong [email protected]
Reporter Myungjin Yoon [email protected]
2024-09-30 21:14:36