A doctor walks through a hallway at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital on Aug. 21, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the government’s continued efforts to ensure a sufficient supply of medical residents for essential medical departments, the shortage of such medical residents remains unabated.
The number of essential medical departments suffering from a shortage of applicants increased from eight in 2017 to 10 last year, according to the data that Rep. Lee Jong-seong of the People Power Party received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In the field of cardiothoracic surgery, the application rate remained low at 50 to 60 percent during the period from 2017 to last year, while obstetrics and gynecology suffered from a shortage of applicants starting in 2018.
For pediatrics, the application rate slid from 78.5 percent in 2020 to 37.3 percent last year, recording the lowest application rate among essential medical departments.
To make matters worse, a large number of doctors who became medical specialists after serving as medical residents in essential medical departments opt to work in other departments, worsening the shortage of doctors in essential medical departments.
The trend of flocking to popular medical subjects is also deepening. Last year’s top medical department in light of applications of medical residents was the department of rehabilitation medical treatment, with an application rate of 202 percent.
Following next were orthopedics at 186.9 percent, dermatology at 184.1 percent, plastic surgery at 180.6 percent, diagnostic radiology at 157.2 percent and ophthalmology at 150.5 percent.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
