South Korea’s government is threatening to take legal action against thousands of striking junior doctors and revoke their medical licences if they do not return to work on Thursday.
Around three quarters of the country’s junior doctors have walked out of their jobs over the past week, causing disruption and delays to surgeries at major teaching hospitals.
The trainee doctors are protesting government plans to admit drastically more medical students to university each year, to increase the number of doctors in the system.
South Korea has one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios among developed countries, and with a rapidly aging population, the government is warning there will be an acute shortage within a decade.
The empty corridors of St Mary’s Hospital in Seoul this week gave a glimpse of what that future might look like. There was barely a doctor or patient to be seen in the triage area outside the emergency room, with patients warned to stay away.
Ryu Ok Hada, a 25-year-old doctor, and his colleagues have not been to work at the hospital for over a week.
“It feels weird not getting up at 4 a.m.,” Ryu joked. The junior doctor told the BBC he was used to working more than 100 hours a week, often for 40 hours without sleep. “It’s insane how much we work for such little pay”.
Although, doctors’ salaries in South Korea are relatively high, Ryu argues that given their hours, he and other junior doctors can end up earning less than the minimum wage. More doctors will not fix the structural issues within the healthcare system, that leave them overworked and underpaid, he says.
Healthcare in South Korea is largely privatised but affordable. The prices of emergency, life-saving surgeries and specialist care have been set too low, the doctors say, while less essential treatments, like cosmetic surgeries, pay too much. This means doctors are increasingly opting to work in more lucrative fields in the big cities, leaving rural areas understaffed and emergency rooms overstretched.
BBC / Titilayo Kupoliyi
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