The government has pledged to improve state-run hospitals outside Seoul so that locals do not have to travel all the way to the capital for crucial medical services. In order to achieve that goal, the government said it will raise the cap on the number of physicians who can be employed in public hospitals outside Seoul and pay them more.
The plans coincide more or less with what the medical community has been demanding for years. There is no special trick when it comes to getting more medical students to specialize in thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, trauma treatment, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology and prevent them from flocking to lucrative fields like plastic surgery and dermatology. If they are paid well and their working conditions improve, more medical students will opt to specialize in those areas. For example, it takes at least three doctors to deliver a baby, but hospitals can only charge W550,000 per child delivery (US$1=W1,357). Also, the government said it will provide more protection to doctors in case of medical accidents.
But that must go hand in hand with increasing medical school admission quotas. The shortage of doctors in Korea is a well-known fact, but the government has been scared to announce any substantial increase for fear of a backlash from doctors’ groups. Ample discussions with doctors are needed now that they have finally signaled acceptance that a portion of the government’s plans are necessary.
The problem is money. The quotas, salaries and other benefits of doctors in public hospitals outside Seoul need to be thoroughly costed to ensure there is no sharp hike in medical insurance premiums. But everyone needs to make sacrifices. Korea now ranks among the world’s top 10 economies, but many patients in provincial areas are in desperate situations as they are simply unable to find doctors there or face long queues even in emergencies.
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