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Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea
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Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Economics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 27642

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hyeongsu Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea
Interests: public health; preventive medicine; obesity; metabolic syndrome; health behavior
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I’m delighted to invite you to consider contributing to this Special Issue on “Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea: Great Expectations”.

There are more than 130,000 medical doctors, based on issued medical certification, in Korea. After getting their license of medical doctor, almost all licensed doctors progress process as follow: internship, resident course, military service (male doctors only), becoming a private doctor(primary care or specialist). In the case of doctors who finished resident course, they can either work as specialists at a hospital or professors at a medical college.

The healthcare system in Korea has been rapidly changing. Currently, the number of doctors per 1000 people in Korea is below the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECDverage. However, based on the fact that around 3000 doctors are regularly produced per year, we expect that the number of doctors in Korea will exceed the OECD average in 2029.

The National Health Insurance (NHI) system was introduced in 1977 and the range of beneficiaries expanded to all Korean citizens in 1987. During this period, the three main characteristics of NHI, low premiums, low benefits, and low fee-schedule charges, became fixed. These characteristics functioned as a severe drawback for NHI development until now, and all stake-holders, insurers, providers, and beneficiaries, have expressed their dissatisfaction with these features.

Korea has suffered drawbacks with respect to NHI, the health status of Korea ranked in the top-tier among OECD countries. For instance, life expectancy increased from 65.8 years in 1970 to 85.2 years in 2017. In the case of deaths from cancer, Korea shows 178.9 deaths per 100,000 people, which is far below the OECD average (203.7 deaths per 100,000 people). In addition, the infant mortality rate decreased from 5.1 deaths per 1000 people in 2006 to 4.0 deaths per 1000 people in 2014.

Governments and doctors always strive to improve the quality of public health. In this Special Issue, we would like to elaborate on the present circumstances of Korean doctors from diverse perspectives: Job satisfaction, working hours, income, health status, health policy awareness, doctors’ perspective on health policy, and so on.

The main purpose of this Special Issue is to investigate applicable solutions to solve problems in Korean medical society by sharing ideas and experiences with other scholars.

We look forward to your contributions.

Prof. Hyeongsu Kim
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Medical doctor
  • Job satisfaction
  • Working hours
  • Income
  • Healthcare policy
  • Health information System
  • Health behavior
  • Health status
  • Turnover intention
  • Resident ship
  • Public health doctor
  • Primary care

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 442 KiB  
Article
Factors Affecting Korean Physician Job Satisfaction
by Young-In Oh, Hyeongsu Kim and KyeHyun Kim
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(15), 2714; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152714 - 30 Jul 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3811
Abstract
This study examines job satisfaction of physicians in Korea and investigates factors affecting their satisfaction. The majority of the past studies tend to cover few minor factors— including stress and occupation professionality or insufficient scale of respondents in particular regions—thus leading to restricted [...] Read more.
This study examines job satisfaction of physicians in Korea and investigates factors affecting their satisfaction. The majority of the past studies tend to cover few minor factors— including stress and occupation professionality or insufficient scale of respondents in particular regions—thus leading to restricted explanations on job satisfaction of the overall physician pool in Korea. This study examines the level of job satisfaction of physicians in Korea and factors affecting their satisfaction by using the ‘2016 Korean Physician Survey (KPS)’ data which included all physicians in Korea. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was conducted in this study in order to identify the factors affecting job satisfaction of physicians in terms of care environment attributes. These attributes included autonomy for care delivery, colleagues/staff/patient relations, income, healthcare resources, social reputation, personal leisure time, administration, restrictions and regulations, and work hours and loads. For the ordinal logistic regression analysis, general socio-demographic attributes, such as gender, age, specialty, job position, type of affiliated healthcare organization, working region, and length of service were controlled beforehand. The result of our measures, the affecting factors of job satisfaction for physicians, include being able to; maintain positive relations with patients through adequate time for consultation and necessary healthcare, have the autonomy to make clinical decisions, have healthy relations with peers and staff, obtain respect from family and society, work in an environment with desirable income and have adequate health resources, and have appropriate work hours and loads for those who facilitate high-quality care. Creating an environment in which physicians can focus on patient-oriented healthcare will contribute to promoting national healthcare. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
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8 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
Turnover Intention and Its Related Factors of Employed Doctors in Korea
by Suhyun Oh and Hyeongsu Kim
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(14), 2509; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142509 - 14 Jul 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4012
Abstract
Employment turnover among doctors at healthcare facilities negatively influences healthcare provision, facility management, and staffing. To support institutional and policy change, turnover intentions and its related factors of employed doctors were evaluated with 2016 Korean Physician Survey (n = 2719) in Korea. [...] Read more.
Employment turnover among doctors at healthcare facilities negatively influences healthcare provision, facility management, and staffing. To support institutional and policy change, turnover intentions and its related factors of employed doctors were evaluated with 2016 Korean Physician Survey (n = 2719) in Korea. About 30.5% intended a turnover within two years. The significant related factors by multivariate analysis via binary logistic regression were gender, age, specialty, type of facility, length of current employment, usual number of hours worked per week, and income satisfaction. The odds of reporting turnover intention are 46.2% greater for males than females and 55.5% greater for aged 30–39 than aged 40–49. The odds are 28.9% smaller for support medicine than internal medicine. The odds are 224.2% greater for those employed at tertiary hospitals than those employed at clinics, but the odds are 34.0% smaller for convalescent hospital employment than general hospital employment. The number of years of current employment and income satisfaction each negatively, and the number of hours worked per week positively, related to turnover intentions. Fair compensation and performance evaluation systems and reasonable working hours should be guaranteed at healthcare facilities to reduce turnover, and institutional and policy measures should be implemented to improve workplace environmental quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
11 pages, 290 KiB  
Article
Current Status of the Adoption, Utilization and Helpfulness of Health Information Systems in Korea
by Kyunghwa Seo, Han-Nah Kim and Hyeongsu Kim
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(12), 2122; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122122 - 15 Jun 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3471
Abstract
As interest in medical informatization has been increasing steadily worldwide, the adoption of health information systems (HISs) in medical institutions is essential. In this study, we intended to identify users’ adoption, utilization and helpfulness derived from HISs to determine the status of medical [...] Read more.
As interest in medical informatization has been increasing steadily worldwide, the adoption of health information systems (HISs) in medical institutions is essential. In this study, we intended to identify users’ adoption, utilization and helpfulness derived from HISs to determine the status of medical informatization by using 2016 Korean Physician Survey data. A total of 8564 members responded to the 2016 survey, we extracted the data of 6949 HISs related part for this study. As a result, about 68% of the self-employed physicians adopted the Order Communication System and Electronic Medical Records, while only one-third adopted the Picture Archiving and Communication System. Overall, the proportions of utilization and helpfulness of HISs were higher for females; for employed physicians or professors; for physicians working in hospitals; and for those specializing in surgical medicine. As applying information technology to the medical environment becomes more important, HIS will become a necessary requirement and the demand for information systems considering user and patient oriented information environments will be increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss the HISs use environment considering not only technical aspects but also users’ or patients’ viewpoints. In that respect, this study will give a meaningful evidence of HIS related policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
9 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
General Public’s Perspectives on Medical Doctors and Local Clinics in South Korea
by Hyemin Jung, Min-Woo Jo, Hyun Joo Kim, Won Mo Jang, Sang Jun Eun and Jin Yong Lee
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(11), 2030; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16112030 - 7 Jun 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3511
Abstract
As patients in South Korea play the main role in choosing healthcare providers, understanding their attitudes and beliefs toward medical institutions is essential. This study evaluated the public’s perspectives on doctors and local clinics. A face-to-face interview survey was conducted with 1000 participants [...] Read more.
As patients in South Korea play the main role in choosing healthcare providers, understanding their attitudes and beliefs toward medical institutions is essential. This study evaluated the public’s perspectives on doctors and local clinics. A face-to-face interview survey was conducted with 1000 participants who represent the South Korean adult population. The questionnaire consisted of four domains: personal information; trust level for nine professionals, including doctors; healthcare utilization behavior and attitudes regarding local clinics; and assessment of local clinics. The trust level of the doctor was highest (3.16 out of 4) among nine professionals. 85.3% of the participants frequently visited local clinics because of accessibility. The main reason for visiting hospitals over local clinics was the belief that doctors employed at hospitals would be better qualified. People were generally satisfied with the service of local clinics but wanted more facilities and equipment. Among six attributes of primary care, “first contact” and “accessibility” got higher scores in importance and current performance. Lastly, the participants suggested that improving the quality of doctors was most important for the reinforcement of primary care. Efforts to consider public opinion should be made before establishing healthcare policies for primary care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
9 pages, 259 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Criminal Punishment on Medical Practices in the Medical Environment
by Munjae Lee
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(4), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040604 - 19 Feb 2019
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4241
Abstract
Recently, there have been cases in which doctors were criminally convicted for misdiagnosing a patient with constipation who then died of diaphragmatic hernia. The criminal punishment of doctors could create a side effect of reduced medical practitioners. This study analyzed the impact of [...] Read more.
Recently, there have been cases in which doctors were criminally convicted for misdiagnosing a patient with constipation who then died of diaphragmatic hernia. The criminal punishment of doctors could create a side effect of reduced medical practitioners. This study analyzed the impact of medical disputes and deduced a plan to create a stable composition of the medical environment. An online survey was conducted with 79,022 doctors who are members of the Korea Medical Association. A total of 3109 responses were obtained, and the analysis used the questionnaire system of the Doctor’s News online survey system. The results demonstrated that doctors have become more psychologically inclined to prescribe overtreatments, avoidance treatments, and defensive treatments. Also, it was found that specialized agencies for medical appraisals were necessary. In order to resolve medical disputes objectively, it is necessary to improve credibility by securing the expertise of the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. In addition, there is a need for specialized agencies to undertake the medical appraisals and training of medical staff to build up their understanding of medical disputes. Thus, medical disputes can be minimized, and the fairness of medical dispute results can be strengthened. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
12 pages, 1125 KiB  
Article
Rethinking the Role of the Public Health Clinic: Comparison of Outpatient Utilization in the Public Health Clinics and Private Clinics in Korea
by Agnus M. Kim, Seongcheol Cho, Hyun Joo Kim, Min-Woo Jo, Sang Jun Eun and Jin Yong Lee
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(7), 1312; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071312 - 22 Jun 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5180
Abstract
Korea has experienced an overall expansion of access to care in the past few decades, which necessitated the reconsideration of the role of the public health clinics (PHC) as a primary care provider. The recent controversy about the outpatient copayment waiver for the [...] Read more.
Korea has experienced an overall expansion of access to care in the past few decades, which necessitated the reconsideration of the role of the public health clinics (PHC) as a primary care provider. The recent controversy about the outpatient copayment waiver for the elderly in the PHC is in the same vein. This study compared the outpatient utilization of the PHC and private clinics, and investigated its factors. Data were acquired from the National Patient Sample in 2013. Compared with private clinics, the patients in the PHC were more elderly and had less severe conditions. Being elderly, the status of National Health Insurance (NHI) beneficiaries, less comorbidities, and low total claim costs were found to be factors for choosing the PHC over private clinics. These results suggest that the elderly, who are the main beneficiaries of copayment waivers in the PHC, are the most likely to use the outpatient service by the PHC. The functions of the PHC need to be rearranged according to the recent advancements in the health care system in Korea. Diverting the resources and efforts from outpatient care to functions that best serve the health of the population should be considered. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Status of Medical Doctors in Korea)
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