According to reports, 860 residents who collectively resigned in protest against the medical school expansion policy have returned to their training hospitals. With this, the total number of residents working in training at hospitals nationwide has increased to 2,532. Compared to the resident count of 13,531 prior to the transfer dispute, this is at the level of 18.7%.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare's Training Environment Evaluation Committee announced on the 2nd that 860 residents were accepted after additional recruitment of resigned residents at training hospitals nationwide last month. This corresponds to 5.9% of the additional recruitment size of 14,456.
If we combine the residents who were promoted in March without participating in the resignation (850 residents) and those who returned in the first half of the year (822 residents), a total of 2,532 residents are currently training in hospitals.
Residents are doctors who work in training hospitals to obtain a medical license and become specialists. They typically undergo 1 year of internship followed by 3 to 4 years of residency in various specialties. The interns who returned this time will complete their training by February of next year and will be promoted to residents in March of next year. Previously, the government shortened the training period for returned interns from 1 year to 9 months (June 2025–February 2026).
The 4th-year residents returning this time will receive training until May of next year. According to training regulations, residents cannot take the specialist examination if their hospital departure period exceeds 3 months. Since this year's resident training started in March, those who return by May will be able to take the specialist examination. This is also why the government opened the way for additional recruitment of residents last month.
It appears that residents who resigned last year and are in waiting for military enlistment will be able to complete their training and enlist this time. The government previously stated that it would consider the scale of returned residents and the demand for military resources to the utmost when reviewing deferments for those residents who have not enlisted.
Among residents who have not returned, there is a sentiment to wait and see the outcome of the presidential election. Since it is uncertain how the new government will resolve the medical conflict, they would like to monitor the situation.