The government’s medical school expansion policy and the resulting medical politics conflict have exacerbated the manpower shortage at regional trauma centers. The government argued that increasing the number of medical students would revitalize essential medical services, such as trauma surgery, but the medical community has countered that this is actually a policy aimed at dismantling essential medical care. Due to the conflict, residents have abandoned their paths to become specialists in the essential medical field and have left hospitals in droves.
Medical staff at the regional trauma center that ChosunBiz met noted that the medical school expansion policy and the year-long conflict in medical politics have demoralized specialists in essential medical fields, including trauma specialists. The trauma center staff criticized, "It is difficult to hope for junior staff wanting to work in essential medical fields due to this conflict," adding, "The emergency medical system that we have built up over several decades has collapsed."
◇Delay in surgeries due to resident departures, decrease in specialists
Regional trauma centers originally have no residents. However, the conflict has impacted the centers as residents from other departments have left the hospitals. Professor Huh Yoon-jeong of the regional trauma center at Dankook University Hospital explained, "In order to save critically injured patients who have no area to go to, all departments in the hospital must get involved," and added, "Even if we are holding onto patients' lifelines in the trauma center, if there is no personnel in the orthopedic department, we cannot perform surgeries on time, which delays treatment and leads to serious complications."
If the conflict in medical politics continues, the number of trauma specialists produced will inevitably decrease. To earn a certificate as a trauma specialist, those who have completed residency in surgery, thoracic surgery, orthopedics, or neurosurgery must choose trauma surgery as their subspecialty and complete an additional two years of training. Given that most residents have left hospitals, the production of trauma specialists is akin to reaching for the stars.
Even before, there were not enough doctors wishing to pursue a career as trauma specialists. In 2011, when the first subspecialists in trauma surgery were certified, 86 new specialists were produced. However, that dropped sharply to 48 the following year in 2012 and fell to 11 in 2013. Although it briefly rose to 40 in 2015, it decreased again, with only six specialists produced in 2020. The main reasons for the decline in the production of trauma surgeons are the demanding work environment and comparatively low financial compensation. The current conflict in medical politics has worsened the situation.
Director Jeong Seong-yeol of the regional trauma center at Gachon University Gil Medical Center stated, "Originally, regional trauma centers are stigmatized as 'departments that cannot make money' because of their low pay," and emphasized the need to improve not only financial compensation but also to allow these specialists to feel a sense of achievement in their choice to save as many patients as possible.
◇Budget for training trauma personnel entirely cut
However, government support is meager. The budget the government allocated for the training of trauma specialists decreased from 1.056 billion won in 2023 to 888 million won last year, and was completely cut to "0 won" this year.
Director Jeong Kyung-won of the regional trauma center at Ajou University Hospital remarked, "Our center also lost support for two trauma surgery fellows last year, causing one of them to leave midway," and added, "The self-directed training program we were running for nurses has also been reduced from four times a year to once due to the loss of funding."
The decline in revenue at major university hospitals due to the conflict in medical politics is also a hindrance to the operation of regional trauma centers. Ajou University Hospital initiated a plan to increase the number of beds in the regional trauma center by investing its own resources, but it was halted due to the conflict. They intended to expand the trauma center ward and educational facilities due to the increase in medical students, but currently, the investment plans have been put on hold.
Director Jeong said, "As the number of patients being transferred to our center has increased, we have run out of beds and planned to increase them from 100 to 240," and noted, "Although we received approval from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, we are currently unable to proceed due to the conflict in medical politics."