SEOUL, Mar. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday the government will take lenient measures if trainee doctors return to work before administrative procedures to suspend their licenses are completed, although they defied a deadline to avoid punitive steps. Cho made the remark as some 93 percent of the 13,000 junior doctors [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – In the wake of a mass departure of resident doctors, some hospitals in South Korea have controversially delegated tasks, traditionally reserved for physicians, to nurses. The Korean Nurses Association reported receiving a complaint that a nurse was instructed to pronounce a patient dead due to the absence of a doctor, [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Nurses were authorized to expand their role in the emergency rooms of major hospitals Friday to cope with a shortage of medical staff, as a mass walkout by more than 11,000 trainee doctors entered its 18th day and caused disruptions in health care services. About 92 percent of 13,000 [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – In the midst of ongoing collective actions by resident doctors, a post surfaced on the anonymous professional community Blind, revealing the apprehensions of a doctor contemplating return but fearing backlash and negative perceptions. On March 7, a user identifying as a resident doctor, referred to as A, shared their dilemma [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has begun forming a committee responsible for allocating 2,000 additional medical school admission seats to universities, officials said Thursday, amid continuing protests from doctors against the plan. The move came as the government is forging ahead with the medical quota hike to address a chronic shortage of [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will swiftly implement emergency measures to alleviate public inconveniences caused by the prolonged walkout by trainee doctors protesting the government’s decision to increase the medical school admission quota, an official said Thursday. Lee Han-kyung, the interior ministry’s chief disaster management official, made the remark during a daily [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Nurses will be allowed to perform CPR and administer medication for emergency patients beginning Friday, officials have said, as part of the government’s efforts to cope with disruptions of medical services due to the ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors. The guidelines by the Ministry of Health and Welfare [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – In an unprecedented move rippling through South Korea’s healthcare system, hospitals—including the prestigious “Big 5″ medical centers in Seoul—are grappling with a dire shortage of resident physicians by instituting unpaid leave for their staff. This drastic measure, a direct fallout from a significant decrease in patient admissions and surgical procedures, [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A leader of the country’s biggest doctors’ assocation appeared before police for questioning Wednesday in connection with the walkout by trainee doctors protesting the government’s decision to hike the medical school quota. The questioning of Joo Soo-ho, the chief spokesperson of the Korea Medical Association (KMA), came as thousands [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Monday there is no change in the government’s principle against “illegal” labor action by trainee doctors, warning that the government would begin legal steps to punish those who defy an order to return to work. Thousands of trainee doctors remained off their jobs at [...]