[News Today] MED PROFESSORS BOYCOTT TRAINING

[LEAD]
As the recruitment of trainee doctors for the second half of the year begins, some medical professors have announced their intention to refuse training the new recruits. The government condemns these refusals as unconstitutional and dismissive of patient concerns. It warns that legal actions may be considered if refusals escalate.

[REPORT]
It is day two of trainee recruitment since some 10,000 junior doctors left their jobs to protest the planned medical school quota hike.

Parents of medical school students gathered in front of the education ministry to demand the quota hike be reconsidered.

Professors of major medical colleges expressed their protest by declaring a boycott.

They vowed to leave the positions of resigned trainee doctors vacant and are refusing to teach new junior doctors hired in the second half of the year.

Professors at six medical colleges, including Seoul National University College of Medicine, are also against recruiting new trainee doctors.

They are concerned that if residents who resigned from regional hospitals move to the capital area, the decline of essential and regional healthcare will accelerate.

The Asan Medical Center has decided not to recruit first-year residents.
Professors at Korea University Medicine are considering including 'collapse of regional healthcare' as a reason for rejecting applicants in interviews.

An official from a training hospital said each hospital can devise its own screening criteria to disqualify candidates.

The government has expressed regret and hinted it might consider taking legal action.

It called the hospitals' action "unconstitutional" as it only discourages dedicated residents and neglects patients' anxiety and inconveniences.

Kwon Byung-ki / Ministry of Health and Welfare
Discriminating against students based on their backgrounds is inappropriate for
educators. It violates constitutional and human rights values.

Patient groups are also demanding that professors withdraw their plans to boycott training, which they described as inhumane.