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Returning resident doctors signal end of staffing crisis, but internal tensions remain

Published: 01 Sep. 2025, 21:42 Updated: 02 Sep. 2025, 15:38

Severance Hospital in western Seoul is booming with patients on Sept. 1, when resident doctors returned to their posts. [NAM SOO-HYOUN]

Chungbuk National University Hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, will resume normal operations in its emergency room on Sept. 8 after more than half of its resident doctors who had resigned in protest against medical school quota hikes decided to return to their posts. The emergency medicine department, with seven residents, and neurosurgery, with four, are now fully staffed.

The hospital, which had restricted adult emergency services during the shortage, expressed cautious optimism.

“We don’t yet have what we’d call sufficient numbers, but we expect to normalize ER operations and return to pre-dispute surgery volumes," said on hospital official.

Return of residents sparks both hope and concern

On Monday, residents who chose to return in the second half of the year began work, with orientation sessions held at hospitals nationwide. At Seoul’s “big five” hospitals, the return rate reached 70 to 80 percent.

“There are differences between departments, but the majority have come back,” said a representative of one major hospital.

Patients wait inside Severance Hospital in wetsern Seoul on Sept. 1, when resident doctors returned to their posts. [NAM SOO-HYOUN]

The return signals the end of a 17-month medical staffing crisis.

At Severance Hospital in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, medical staff were overheard discussing the influx of returning residents: “Did that department get many of them back?” “We need to start handovers right away.”

“If something like that mass resignation happens again, it will be terrifying," said a man in his 30s holding his 18-month-old son. "I’m just relieved to hear residents are returning.”

Among patients, expectations are rising that care will recover. Posts on a cancer patient forum with 250,000 members read, “Treatment and appointments will return to normal” and “I hope the medical field gets back on track as soon as possible.”

Internal frictions and unresolved issues

But concerns remain, especially over tensions between residents who returned earlier and those now coming back. In a social media group of residents who had already resumed, one complaint read, “The September returnees don’t even say hello. It was shocking.”

A hospital staff is scene walking across the building in Daejeon on Aug. 28. [JOONGANG ILBO]

“We greeted them warmly, but they didn’t look happy to see us," said one resident who came back in May. "At some hospitals, they refuse to hand over cases. It’s disappointing because we should be helping each other.”

A university hospital administrator added, “Since most are returning now, while earlier returnees are in the minority, conflict is a concern. Unlike medical students, there’s no clear way to separate them.”

Questions also remain about how the role of physician assistant (PA) nurses will evolve.

“The scene is chaotic. With residents back, the division of duties is unclear and confusing,” said a nurse at a big five hospital. A surgical nurse in Daegu added, “They say PA nurses will be reduced, but there’s no clear guidance.”

“We shouldn’t just see PAs as replacements for residents but as professionals who now hold a permanent role in the medical system," said a thoracic surgeon who wished to remain anonymous.

Doctors are seen at a university hospital in Seoul on Jan. 20. [NEWS1]

Regional hospitals face tougher realities

Regional hospitals with fewer residents back face bleaker conditions. Their return rate is estimated at around 50 percent, with critical care fields even lower.

“The bigger problem than low return rates is the lack of junior residents," said an emergency medicine professor at a university hospital in the Jeolla region, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Next year may bring no new residents at all," the professor continued. "Today, a fourth-year resident asked me if the government would cover the risks of medical lawsuits. These are issues only the government can resolve.”

A group of residents announced the formal launch of the Korean Intern Resident Union (KIRU), a nationwide union. In a statement released on Monday, the union hinted at potential new disputes over working hours and conditions.

“Countless residents have stayed up nights keeping hospitals running, but in return we face overwork, exhaustion and a lack of basic dignity," said the union. "We will no longer be consumed in silence."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHAE HYE-SEON, NAM SOO-HYOUN [[email protected]]