SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – Public medical institutions in South Korea are grappling with an increasingly severe shortage of doctors, a chronic issue that has pushed salaries to unprecedented levels. In a striking example last year, a public medical center in South Jeolla Province hired an orthopedic surgeon for an annual salary of 620 million [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The government plans to invest 3.3 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) of its health insurance funding annually over the next five years to reform tertiary care hospitals to better prioritize the treatment of critically ill patients, the interior minister said Friday. Minister Lee Sang-min made the remarks during a government [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – As the South Korean government moves to address medical shortages by allowing foreign-licensed doctors to practice, new data reveals that only 54.5% of foreign medical school graduates passed a key qualifying exam, raising concerns about the quality of care such a policy might introduce. The preliminary examination for medical licenses, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – In a recent evaluation of the world’s best cancer hospitals, three South Korean medical institutions have secured positions within the top 10, marking a significant achievement for the country’s healthcare system. According to Newsweek’s “World’s Best Specialized Hospitals” rankings released on September 18, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, and [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The difficulty that hospitals face in operating emergency rooms has long been a serious issue in South Korea, the health ministry said Thursday, adding that it is a major reason for the government to push for medical reform that includes the increase in the medical school admission quota. Concerns [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of requests from emergency rescue workers to find hospitals for patients has more than doubled this year compared to last year, amid prolonged emergency room disruptions nationwide, the fire agency said Wednesday. 119 emergency control centers nationwide selected hospitals to accommodate emergency patients on 1,197 occasions from [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) – A hospital in Seoul’s Seocho district has captured public attention with its unconventional employee benefits, including vacation time and celebratory payments for divorced staff members. The unique workplace policies of this hair transplant clinic were featured on MBC’s reality show “The Manager” on August 31, offering a glimpse into a [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — In a stark contradiction to government assurances, a coalition of medical school professors in South Korea has painted a grim picture of the nation’s healthcare system, claiming that many emergency rooms are already unable to provide normal care. The group asserts that punishing those responsible for the healthcare breakdown and [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Monday tried to soothe concerns about hospital emergency rooms, as some doctors have warned of a potential disruption of emergency care due to a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors. “Although there are some difficulties, we believe that emergency rooms are capable of maintaining operations,” [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Hospitals were set to wrap up the hiring of more junior doctors Friday, but there are expected to be few applicants as many trainee doctors have defied the government’s medical reform for nearly seven months, officials said. Hospitals issued new recruitment notices for trainee doctors last week after the [...]