[An image of a doctor with medical symbols. Irrelevant person to the article. Photo credit to Pixabay]

Recently, on September 2nd, 2024, the South Korean government announced that they are going to place army surgeons within emergency rooms starting from September 4th due to the shortage of doctors within that area.

There are many different opinions about this, ranging from citizens being thankful that they could at least receive some sort of treatment when headed to the emergency room for urgent care, to others saying that they can’t fully trust the surgical process performed by them.

In South Korea, there has been a crisis in the field of medicine.

This has been named the 2024 South Korean medical crisis by many people.

Apart from being called a crisis, it has also been referred to as a “strike” involving different levels of doctors throughout the country.

This crisis started due to the government’s new policy to increase the number of medical students in the country.

The policy was originally intended to increase the number of doctors in the future to address what the government believed to be a shortage of doctors in the country.

Many medical professors, residents, and doctors walked out of their workplaces, protesting against and refusing to support the new policy of increasing the number of medical students.

These medical professionals are protesting with the belief that any doctor shortage is due to harsh working conditions and low wages compared to their workload rather than an insufficient number of medical graduates.

Due to numerous doctors resigning, multiple hospitals have temporarily ceased operations with no clear timeline for resumption.

This protest had led to a shortage of personnel capable of performing specific surgeries within hospitals as well as a lack of doctors able to handle specific tasks in different parts of the hospital such as the emergency room.

For these reasons, some South Korean citizens have claimed that something must be done about this crisis, and many are worried that they, or someone they know, would not be able to get the treatment and care they need at this critical time.

The government has not retracted the new policy, but has taken some measures to address the situation for worried and concerned citizens of the country.

They have claimed that they are willing to let medical school admissions be determined by the schools themselves in 2025, while their original plan would resume in 2026.

This could lower the number of new students accepted by 50%, which is a significant decrease for at least the year 2025.

In contrast to the positive reactions, there have been severe and negative reactions from the government towards the doctors.

They have stated officially that if the doctors don’t return to their hospitals and work immediately, the government will suspend their medical licenses.

This means that affected doctors would be unable to work within hospitals for a certain period.

The 2024 South Korean medical crisis continues to strain the country’s healthcare system.

While the government’s deployment of army surgeons to emergency rooms offers a stopgap measure, it has raised questions about care quality and long-term healthcare strategies.

As the impasse between authorities and medical professionals persists, the resolution remains unclear.

Experts stress the urgent need for both sides to find common ground, balancing the concerns of medical professionals with the healthcare needs of the nation’s citizens.