South Korea’s presidential office on Sept. 9 again rejected a request from the country’s medical community to postpone plans to expand medical school enrollment for the 2025 academic year, Yonhap news agency reported.
The number of cancer surgeries in South Korea has fallen sharply in the past five months after interns and residents in the country launched a”Wave of resignations” against plans to expand medical school enrollment, South Korean media reported Wednesday, there were 11,100 fewer, or 16.3 per cent, than in the same period last year.
In Eshan Yi Autonomous County Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Severus Hospital, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul St. Mary’s St. Mary’s Hospital top medical institutions, the number of cancer operations between February and June fell by nearly 8,400, or 29% , compared with the same period last year.
The South Korean government announced plans to expand medical university enrollment in early February this year, but the medical community strongly opposed the plan, with about 12,000 interns and residents submitting resignations or going on strike to leave their posts, causing confusion in the medical sector, treatment, including cancer surgery, was significantly reduced.