A doctor walks at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital on Aug. 21, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — With the rising demand for more medical staff in less popular, essential medical departments, the average age of doctors working in these fields is increasing, a report said Wednesday.
Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party referred to a report submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare which showed that the average age of doctors working in the departments of surgery and gynecology was 53.
The average age of doctors working in the departments of cardiothoracic surgery and urology was 52 and those working in the departments of neurosurgery and pediatrics were 50 years old on average.
The average age of doctors among all six essential medical departments was 50.
Specifically, 32.1 percent were in their 40s, 29.5 percent were in their 50s, 19.8 percent were in their 60s or higher and 18.6 percent were in their 30s or lower.
Doctors in their 60s or higher exceeded the number of those in their 30s, and every second doctor was over 50 years old.
In contrast, doctors working in the department of rehabilitation, which garnered the highest number of resident applications last year, were 45 years old on average.
Doctors working in the radiology department were 48 years old, those working in the department of dermatology were 48.1 years old, those working in the ophthalmology department were 49 years old and those working in the department of plastic surgery were 50 years old on average.
In popular medical departments, 29.7 percent of the doctors were in their 40s, 29.2 percent were in their 50s, 25 percent were in their 30s or lower and 16.1 percent were in their 60s or higher, which showed that doctors in their 30s exceeded the number of those in their 60s or higher.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
