A public hospital in Seoul is crowded with patients, Thursday, while general hospital trainee doctors across the country have stayed away from their jobs for the third day in protest of the government's plan to hike the enrollment quota at medical schools nationwide. Yonhap

An intensifying confrontation between doctors and the government over the latter's decision to increase the number of medical students next year is causing significant disruptions to medical services, pushing patients to the rear.

With thousands of trainee doctors staging walkouts in protest against the government policy, many hospitals across the country, including the five biggest general hospitals in Seoul, have postponed or rescheduled surgeries and other medical procedures.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Thursday, 9,275 interns and resident doctors, or 74.4 percent of all such doctors, have submitted their resignations as of 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Of them, 8,024 have left their worksites.

The strike by junior doctors is considered serious, as they provide crucial assistance to medical experts.

Doctors' groups and the health ministry have made a similar prediction that general hospitals could hold out without trainee doctors for about two weeks.

But concerns exist over the possibility that the situation could be prolonged further, as neither doctors nor the government are showing any signs of backing down over the plan to raise the annual medical school admission quota by 2,000 places.

Doctors continue to call for reconsideration, while the government is pledging to seek arrest warrants for those who spearhead collective action.

The resultant medical service bottleneck is prompting fears among patients and their families as it is uncertain how long the situation will last and how much longer they should wait to receive proper medical treatment.

During his appearance on an MBC debate program on Tuesday, Kim Yoon, professor of medicine at Seoul National University, who advocates for the medical school quota increase, said, "The ongoing collective action would last for at least two to three months, or even six months."

On the same day, Park Dan, the head of the Korea Intern Resident Association (KIRA), an association of junior doctors, said, "The situation could last for more than a year," expressing a willingness to continue the protest and collective action.

A patient is wheeled into an ambulance at a major hospital in Seoul, Thursday, to be transferred to another hospital, at a time when collective resignations by trainee doctors across the country in protest of the government's plan to hike the enrollment quota at medical schools have been causing serious disruptions to medical services. Yonhap

The government urged trainee doctors to return to work, saying their collective action is threatening the safety of patients. In a bid to put more pressure on them, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Justice vowed to seek arrest warrants and carry out compulsory investigations in principle against those who refuse to comply with the government's order to return to work or those who organize collective action.

The government pledged to punish those involved to the full extent of the law if their collective action results in patient deaths.

In preparation for the prolonged walkout, the government also drew up various contingency plans, expanding the consulting hours of public hospitals and opening the emergency rooms of military hospitals to the public.

For medical specialists who treat inpatients instead of trainee doctors, the government vowed to offer additional compensation.

'We are willing to go back'

Regarding growing concerns among patients and their families, Park said, "Junior doctors are willing to go back if the government accepts our requirements to some extent."

During his appearance on a CBS radio show on Thursday, Park urged the government to "make a prompt decision to resolve the situation."

In a statement, KIRA demanded that the government go back to square one with its quota hike plan, establish a panel to discuss the increase and decrease in the number of doctors and expand the recruitment of medical specialists in teaching hospitals.

The association also called on the government to reduce the legal risks caused by medical accidents and improve the working environment of trainee doctors.

"We cannot accept adding 2,000 slots at once as there are concerns about whether the education systems are prepared (for the increase)," Park said.

In a move to join the collective action, 11,778 students at medical schools across the country have applied for leave of absence as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Education. This accounts for about 62.7 percent of the total number of medical students nationwide.