[Exclusive] Nationwide shortage of respiratory doctors raises concerns ahead of flu season

[Anchor]

Since this summer, respiratory infectious diseases such as bacterial pneumonia and whooping cough have been rampant.

The flu is also expected to become widespread soon, and as a result of KBS's investigation, it has been confirmed that there will be only 4 full-time doctors dedicated to treating respiratory patients in university hospitals nationwide next year.

This is an exclusive report by Jin Sun-min.

[Report]

In a university hospital in the metropolitan area, the waiting room is packed with patients wearing masks.

Although the winter flu season has not even started, there has been a high number of respiratory patients since autumn this year.

In particular, mycoplasma pneumonia is spreading mainly among children and adolescents, leading to a tenfold increase in hospitalized patients over the past year.

Seasonal flu outbreaks are expected around early December, making it crucial for the medical field to prepare.

However, KBS's investigation revealed that there will be only 4 full-time doctors responsible for respiratory intensive care nationwide next year.

This is only a quarter of this year's workforce.

Due to the demanding nature of the job, there were already few applicants, and the mass resignation of residents has further reduced the number of new full-time doctors being trained.

Even Seoul National University Hospital, one of the 'Big 5' hospitals, has reduced its intensive care unit capacity by half due to a shortage of doctors.

[Ahn Yoon-hye/Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital: "Even if we try to admit all the patients, we can only provide less than 30% of the best treatment we know; it’s a situation where we can only set up a ventilator and say, 'Just hang in there'..."]

The total number of full-time doctors in the respiratory department has nearly halved between last year and this year, and it is expected to decrease by another half next year.

[Kim Jin-woo/Spokesperson for the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases/Catholic University of Korea: "Given the current number of personnel and the future reduction in such workforce, we are very concerned about the potential impact on national infectious diseases or similar crises."]

The reduced number of full-time doctors is also concentrated in the metropolitan area, and it seems that there will be no full-time respiratory doctors in Gangwon, Jeolla, Jeju, and Chungcheong provinces next year.

This is Jin Sun-min from KBS News.