South Korea’s health ministry began deploying military doctors and public health physicians to emergency rooms at hospitals suffering from a shortage of doctors on Wednesday, but concerns are growing about further disruption to the health care system, officials said, Yonhap news agency reported.
The government on Monday deployed 15 military doctors to help in emergency rooms at five hospitals, including Ewha University Medical Center in Seoul and Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, and plans to send about 230 military doctors and public health doctors to a number of other hospitals across the country.
The move comes as the majority of the country’s 13,000 junior and trainee doctors have walked out of their jobs since February in mass resignations in protest at the government’s decision to significantly increase admission quotas to medical schools starting next year to address the shortage of doctors.
The months-long measure has put pressure on the country’s medical system, prompting major hospitals to scale back surgeries, patient services and emergency room operations.