No return of trainee doctors pushes hospital overhauls in South Korea


A space dedicated to trainee doctors is set up at a major hospital in Seoul on the day the recruitment for the second half of the year begins on Monday. - Photo: Yonhap

SEOUL: As the deadlock within South Korea's medical community extends into its sixth month, with no sign of trainee doctors returning to hospitals, the government is set to finalise a structural transformation plan by next month that will allow advanced general hospitals to operate without junior doctors.

The government plans to transform advanced general hospitals, which have traditionally depended heavily on trainee doctors, into physician-centered institutions focused on critical and emergency care.

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