In South Korea, there are approximately 140,000 physicians employed. For every 10,000 inhabitants, there are 25 doctors, according to the population. Thus, the government made the decision to address the physician shortage. In light of this, the government has declared that starting with the upcoming academic year, the number of students enrolled in medical colleges will rise to two thousand.
The government's announcement will lighten the doctors' workload. Likewise, the government anticipated that patients would have easy access to care. Conversely, however, medical professionals are demonstrating against this government-mandated medical policy.
This indicates that we lack the medical infrastructure necessary to care for 2000 people. Physicians have also stated that an environment of needless treatment exists when there is an excessive number of physicians working.
They also worry that if more doctors are hired, their pay will probably go down in the future. Thus, they are demonstrating on the street. In the meantime, as part of the protest, almost 1,600 active physicians resigned in a single day. Because there aren't enough doctors in the area, many treatments have been postponed, leaving patients in need of care. The South Korean Ministry of Health has therefore asked the physicians to end this protest right away.
Tags:
WORLD