A medical professional enters an intensive care unit at a major hospital in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

Walkouts staged by trainee doctors in protest at the government's plan to increase the number of medical students are showing signs of spreading to all doctor groups, including medical school graduates and professors.

This is adding to the woes of patients and their families who are suffering from postponed or rescheduled surgeries and other medical procedures, after thousands of interns and resident doctors across the country walked off the job on Feb. 19 in opposition to the government's decision.

Joining the collective action, recent graduates from various medical schools vowed to refuse to commence their internships, while many fellows, or doctors completing specialized training after completing a residency, are expected to refuse to renew their contracts with their respective hospitals.

Some professors are also signaling their potential participation in the collective action.

The government has been seeking to raise the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058 starting next year, in order to address a shortage of doctors and to improve public access to medical services. On the other hand, doctors and medical school students raised concerns that expanding the number could adversely affect the quality of the education and training that would-be doctors receive.

According to sources in medical circles, Sunday, a considerable number of medical school graduates expressed their intention to abandon their internships at teaching hospitals nationwide.

At Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwangju, 101 graduates were due to commence their internships, but 86 of them informed hospital authorities of their intention not to attend the program as of Friday.

At Chosun University Hospital located in the same region, all 32 new interns made a similar move, which was followed by 19 out of 22 at Jeju National University Hospital and 37 at Gyeongsang National University Hospital.

These refusals dashed hopes that the new interns could fill the medical service vacuum left by the striking trainee doctors.

Members of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) chant slogans opposing the government's plan to hike the medical school enrollment quota, during a gathering to discuss their future actions at the KMA building in Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

The aforementioned fellows, for their part, are seriously considering refusing to renew their contracts as they have suffered from a seriously increasing workload while filling the vacuum left by trainee doctors who handed in their resignations to their respective hospitals.

Doctors in fellowship programs, in general, renew their contracts every year at the end of February. But, sources said, many of them do not want to renew their contracts this time amid growing uncertainty as they don't know how long the trainee doctors' strike will last.

At Chosun University Hospital, 12 out of 14 fellow doctors have already expressed their intention to leave the hospital.

"In March, 30 percent of doctors at major hospitals will disappear," said Kim Seong-geun, vice president of the Seoul branch of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the nation's largest coalition of doctors.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also expressed concerns, in what appears to be an attempt to appease the doctoral fellows.

"We are well aware of the increased work burden faced by fellow doctors," Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during a media briefing. "I ask them, once again, to stand by patients."

Professors, who rank highest among medical professionals and would be the last group to participate in collective action, said that they will do their best to resolve the medical service vacuum by continuing to treat patients, but some of them are signaling their will to side with the trainee doctors if they are punished by the government.

In a statement, an association of professors of medical schools across the country said, "Both doctors and the government should make efforts to promptly resolve this emergency situation."

In their separate statement, however, a committee of professors belonging to the Yonsei University College of Medicine said, "If the government unfairly punishes our pupils, we, as teachers, will never sit back and watch."

Such comments came as the government has been sticking to its hard-line stance, warning of stern repercussions for doctors participating in collective action, including the possibility of license suspensions.

The government also vowed to seek arrest warrants and carry out investigations into those who refuse to comply with the government's order to return to work or those who organize collective action.