Deadline for Resident Doctors' Resignations Passes, 'Low Return'... Uncertainty

Despite the government's deadline for processing the resignation of resident doctors, the majority of them have not returned, making the mass resignation of about 10,000 resident doctors inevitable.

According to the medical community on the 16th, the government requested each training hospital to complete the resignation process of resident doctors to determine the size of the vacancies. However, the willingness of resident doctors to return is extremely low.

A representative of a training hospital in Seoul said, "The response rate is very low, so it is difficult to expect a large-scale return."

As of the 12th, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, only 1,111 (8.1%) of the 13,756 resident doctors in 211 training hospitals nationwide were working.

If all the resident doctors who have not returned are processed for resignation, there could be a mass resignation of more than 10,000.

The likelihood of the resigned resident doctors applying for the second half of the year's resident recruitment also seems low.

The government is encouraging the resigned resident doctors to return by applying special regulations for those who apply for the second half of the year's recruitment, but the response from the resident doctors is cold.

One resigned resident doctor said, "There is a sentiment of not wanting to return because nothing has changed," and showed no interest in the second half recruitment.

The government has not extended the resignation processing deadline to proceed with the second half resident recruitment schedule without delay.

The second half of the resident recruitment schedule, starting in September, begins on the 22nd of this month and will target all subjects with vacancies.

However, there are growing concerns that the second half recruitment may also face difficulties in the current situation of minimal returns from resident doctors.

Training hospitals plan to process the resignation of resident doctors who have not expressed their intention to return or resign, but this has sparked significant backlash within the medical community.

Professor groups, such as the National Association of Medical School Professors, are concerned that "unilaterally processing resignations without receiving responses regarding the return or resignation intentions of individual resident doctors will worsen the situation."

There is also considerable backlash within the hospitals regarding the blanket resignation processing.

A representative from a training hospital said, "We have notified the resident doctors of the automatic resignation processing, but it is true that there is significant internal opposition," and added, "Although it is burdensome for the hospital, we have no choice but to process the resignations."

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Deadline for Resident Doctors' Resignations Passes, 'Low Return'... Uncertainty Over Second Half Recruitment