Number of ER doctors drops over 40 pct; 7 hospitals consider partial shutdown: survey

The number of emergency room doctors fell more than 40 percent nationwide and seven hospitals are considering the partial suspension of emergency care services, a survey showed Thursday. According to the poll conducted by the national medical professors' council, a total of 535 doctors had served at 53 major training hospitals across the nation combined as of Tuesday, down from 914 last year. Of the currently serving doctors, only 33 were trainee doctors, compared with last year's 386, the survey showed. A majority of trainee doctors have left their workplaces since February in protest of the government's plan to increase the medical school admissions quota by around 2,000 every year over the next five years in an effort to address the shortage of doctors. Of the 53 hospitals, seven had fewer than five doctors assigned to ERs and they were forced to consider the partial shutdown of their emergency room operations due to staff shortage, the council said. A man puts a bed into an ambulance in front of an emergency care center in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) A man puts a bed into an ambulance in front of an emergency care center in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2024. (Yonhap) The situation was worse in non-Seoul areas, according to the survey. In Seoul, emergency room doctors fell 39.2 percent on-year, with the number of specialists going down 4 percent. In the western city of Incheon, the total number of doctors shed 8.9 percent on-year, but that of specialists, on the other hand, jumped 20.7 percent. But the central city of Daejeon and the Chungcheong Province saw the number of ER doctors sink 58 percent, and the southern port city of Busan saw a 53.6 percent fall. The number of emergency room doctors in the southwestern city of Gwangju and the surrounding region also dived 51.2 percent on-year. "The survey illustrates well that the national emergency medical and health care system is collapsing, and non-Seoul areas were hit harder," a council official said. Doctors have called on the government to revisit the quota hike decision from scratch, saying that the measure will not address the shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential health care fields, and it will compromise the quality of medical education and ultimately the country's medical services. Source: Yonhap News Agency