Since the beginning of the conflict between the government and the medical community in February last year, the number of doctors in university hospitals has sharply decreased, while the number of doctors in local clinics and hospitals has increased.
According to Park Eun-cheol, vice president of the Korean Academy of Medicine (professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine's Department of Preventive Medicine), the number of doctors in higher general hospitals decreased from 23,346 in February 2023 to 15,232 in 2024, a drop of 34.8%. During the same period, the number in general hospitals also decreased from 22,401 to 19,773, a decline of 11.7%. Professor Park's announcement was made at the '3rd Media Forum' co-hosted by the Korean Medical Biotechnology Journalist Association (KMBJA) at the Korea Press Center.
In contrast, the number of doctors in local hospitals increased from 10,541 to 11,256, or 6.8%, while the number of doctors in local clinics rose from 50,285 to 54,989, an increase of 9.4%. The increase in the number of doctors in local clinics was the largest in one year.
Specifically, the number of residents in higher general hospitals and general hospitals decreased by 8,397 and 3,314, respectively, while the number of general practitioners in local clinics and hospitals increased by 638 and 3,097, respectively.
Professor Park estimated that among the residents, 7,150 (54.9%) left hospitals due to reasons such as sabbaticals, military enlistment, and overseas opportunities.
In one year, the number of specialists increased across all medical institutions. The increases were highest in local clinics (1,607), higher general hospitals (189), hospitals (95), and general hospitals (55). Regionally, the total number of specialists in the metropolitan area rose from 52,813 in 2023 to 54,194 in 2024, an increase of 2.6%, while the number of specialists in rural areas grew from 42,827 to 43,171, an increase of 0.8%.
Last year, the medical expenses incurred by patients in higher general hospitals amounted to 18.946 trillion won, down about 5.5% from 20.4 trillion won the previous year, while the medical expenses of hospital-grade medical institutions rose to 10.608 trillion won, an increase of 16.3% from 9.122 trillion won in the previous year.
On this day, Lee Jong-gu, vice president of the Korean Academy of Medicine, commented on the controversy over excess mortality resulting from the government-medical community conflict, stating, "It is difficult to conclude that the excess mortality rate has significantly increased based solely on the number of deaths after residents left due to the conflict," and noted, "Excess mortality is the result of a combination of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza outbreaks."
He stated, "Excess mortality is an important factor in evaluating health care systems during catastrophic situations like COVID-19; thus, it is necessary to build a data system that can secure real-time causes of death and statistics."