A doctor walks inside of a Seoul hospital on Aug. 27, 2020 (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The lack of doctors in the so-called unpopular departments is becoming a major problem in South Korea, including at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH), one of the country’s most prestigious medical centers.
According to Rep. Kang Min-jung of the Democratic Party, SNUH had to issue 11 calls for applications for 46 positions in the Department of External Medicine last year due to a lack of applicants.
After multiple attempts, the hospital managed to recruit 47 doctors for the department, just one more than the number of available positions.
Medical sources attribute the scarcity of doctors in external medicine to its widespread unpopularity among residents when choosing their preferred department.
The dearth of doctors has created a vicious cycle, resulting in longer working hours. Medical centers can only recruit sufficient doctors for external medicine through repeated calls for applications.
Internal medicine was the second least popular department, with nine calls for applications taking place the previous year.
The medical center advertised 82 positions, but only 75 individuals have applied so far, and 72 of them have been accepted.
In the Emergency Department, eight calls for applications were issued last year for 24 available positions, but only 11 candidates applied.
Less than half of all available positions, only 10, have been filled.
In contrast, the Department of Plastic Surgery successfully filled all its available positions with a single call for applications.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
