S Korean medical professors call on govt to change stance for trainee doctors' strike

Seoul, July 15 (IANS) Medical professors at Seoul National University (SNU) in South Korea on Monday said that striking trainee doctors will not return to work if the government sticks to the current medical reform plans, calling for a "transparent and reasonable" policy push.

The emergency response committee of SNU professors, who serve as senior doctors at SNU hospitals, appealed during a press conference in Seoul, as the government set a deadline Monday for the striking doctors to return to hospitals, Yonhap news agency reported.

"The government has vowed to withdraw its plan of implementing punitive administrative steps and to give a special favour regarding their training. But such measures will not convince them to return to work," the committee said.

"The strike came in protest of the government's unilateral push for unreasonable policy measures, but such measures have remained unchanged," it added.

More than 90 per cent of around 13,000 junior doctors walked off their jobs in February in the form of resignations against the government's plan to sharply raise medical school admissions.

The government has demanded that hospitals complete accepting their resignations by Monday, while vowing not to suspend the medical licences of the striking doctors, regardless of whether they return to hospitals or not, and offering special measures for returnees on their training and earning of specialist licences.

But a majority of the doctors have not budged an inch, according to officials.

"Instead of pressuring the doctors by setting a resignation deadline, the government should come up with reasonable measures and implement them in a transparent and reasonable way," the committee said.

There is "almost nothing for hospitals and professors to do" after the looming mass resignations, the committee said, stressing that the healthcare system is sinking and will deteriorate further if the current situation continues.

Despite strong opposition from doctors, the government has already finalised an admissions quota hike of some 1,500 students for medical schools for next year to address problems stemming from the shortage of doctors.

Doctors have urged the government to revisit the decision, claiming that medical schools will not be able to handle the increased enrollment, which will compromise the quality of medical education and ultimately the country's medical services, the report said.