A bill to reduce the legal limit of internship working hours from the current 80 hours per week to within 60 hours has been proposed in the National Assembly.
Kim Yoon, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee and a former doctor, noted on the 7th that he has introduced a bill titled 'Partial amendment of the law for the improvement of the training environment and status of interns.'
The main points of this amendment include prioritizing state support for the cultivation of essential medical specialized training subjects, setting intern training hours to within 60 hours per week and within a continuous 24-hour range, as determined by Ministry of Health and Welfare regulations. According to the 'Special Law on Interns' that has been in effect since 2017, the maximum working hours for interns are currently 80 hours per week.
Kim noted, 'Interns are currently exposed to excessive long working hours, and training hours are overly focused on hospital tasks, leaving insufficient opportunities for education.' He added, 'Moreover, some hospitals are in a situation where systematic education curricula are lacking or there is a shortage of supervising specialists, making it difficult to receive quality training.' He further explained that this law was created by reflecting the opinions of interns to improve the poor training environment, one of the conditions for returning to internships.
The bill includes provisions to establish personnel criteria necessary for designating training hospitals, such as an appropriate number of doctors and nurses per patient, so that interns can comply with training hours.
It has been stipulated to designate supervising specialists by separating their roles, such as education oversight, dedicated research, and training guidance. The law also specifies collaborative training involving medical institutions within the jurisdiction, including national university hospitals, local medical centers, and clinics.
Additionally, during the recruitment and selection of interns and residents, fair and transparent procedures must be followed, and discrimination based on gender is prohibited. Furthermore, the composition of the training environment evaluation committee must include four interns, one resident, four recommenders from the Korean Medical Association, and one recommender from related medical college organizations, moving away from a hospital-centered composition. Kim has also introduced a revision to the Medical Law to establish a legal basis for residents.
Kim emphasized, 'The fact that the Korean medical system has excessively relied on long-hour, low-wage labor from interns has been revealed following the medical chaos triggered by the increase in medical students.' He asserted, 'Interns are not subjects of labor exploitation but are key personnel who must grow into competent specialists responsible for public health,' and added, 'Improving the intern training environment is an important task directly related to the lives of citizens.'