산부인과가 살아나야 대한민국 의료 정상화된다 = Revitalizing obstetrics and gynecology, a pathway to restoring medicine in Republic of Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: In February 2024, the Korean government introduced the “Essential Medical Package,” along with an increase in medical school admissions of 2,000 students, resulting in a total annual intake of 5,058 for the beginning of 2025. This sudden policy shift precipitated significant turmoil within the medical sector, prompting many resident doctors to resign and medical students to take leaves of absence. Despite numerous appeals for the revision of these policies, the government has widely disregarded these concerns and adopted more restrictive measures, thereby exacerbating tensions within the healthcare community.
Current Concepts: Despite Korea’s doctor-to-population ratio being lower than the OECD average, Korea demonstrates remarkable positive health indicators, including low avoidable mortality rates and high life expectancy.
Nevertheless, critical specialties, particularly obstetrics and gynecology, are facing significant challenges. These challenges are compounded by policies that offer public health services such as complementary prenatal screenings, which reduce revenue for private clinics. Nevertheless, critical specialties, particularly obstetrics and gynecology, are facing significant challenges, compounded by policies that offer public health services, such as complementary prenatal screenings, which reduce revenue for private clinics. Consequently, this situation has exacerbated the decline of private obstetric services, placing additional strain on the healthcare system.
Discussion and Conclusion: To effectively address the challenges facing the Korean healthcare system, it is imperative to implement targeted reforms that prioritize increasing compensation and mitigating legal risks for high-risk specialties, rather than merely expanding medical school admissions indiscriminately. Furthermore, transparent and data-driven workforce planning is essential to foster sustainable improvements that support the efficiency and accessibility of healthcare services in Korea. Without these reforms, there is a significant risk that the quality of medical services will continue to decline, thereby adversely affecting future generations’ access to essential healthcare.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Lee CH, "‘6 years of medical school’ subject to negotiation... 5years→5.5 years"

2 Office of the President, "[All voices] 1st ruling and opposition consultative meeting"

3 Kim SM, "Prime Minister Han: ‘Major doctors, please join the ruling and opposition parties... I will show you with policies"

4 Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Plan to expand the physician workforce’ emergency briefing"

5 Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), "OECD Health Statistics 2024"

6 Jung HM, "National compensation for labour accidents rises to 300 million... but ‘civil compensation exceeds 1 billion"

7 Lee SY, "Former minister ‘maternity unit number, maximum realisation under consideration"

8 Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Enactment of the Nursing Act to protect care support nurses and promote reasonable division of labour among healthcare providers"

9 Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Cliff-edge essential healthcare saved by policy package"

10 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, "Annual changes in medical school admission quotas and regional quotas"

11 Ministry of Health and Welfare, "An agreement to advance healthcare and overcome COVID-19"

12 Office of the President, "A message to the people"

13 Son ES, "2,000 more medical students, who made the decision?’ Welfare Committee hearing debate"