▲ A clinic promoting dermatology and plastic surgery as its medical departments
A medical research study has shown that the number of general practitioners (GPs) working in dermatology increased during the process of junior doctors collectively resigning and subsequently returning amid the medical-governmental conflict in 2024.
Notably, even after junior doctors returned to their training, the number of dermatological general practitioners remained significantly higher than before the conflict.
The number of general practitioners working at clinics registered with dermatology as their medical department stood at 571 before the medical conflict, but reached 1,022 in March of this year.
This trend was confirmed after a research team led by Professor Lee Sang-gyu from the Department of Preventive Medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine analyzed changes in the distribution of general practitioners before and after the mass resignations of resident doctors, based on data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) from December 2022 to March 2026.
The findings of this study were published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS) last month.
Previously, when the government announced plans to expand medical school admissions by 2,000 seats in February 2024, junior doctors protested by collectively resigning from their training hospitals.
Although a significant portion of resident doctors returned to their training in September of last year, the prolonged medical conflict has substantially reshaped South Korea's medical workforce landscape.
Resident doctors working at training hospitals plummeted by 90.7%, dropping from 13,001 in December 2023—just before the conflict—to 1,208 in December 2024.
Over the same period, general practitioners working at medical institutions other than training hospitals increased by 64.8%, rising from 5,557 to 9,157.
General practitioners working at clinic-level medical institutions rose from 3,915 in December 2023 to 6,436 in December 2024, and further increased to 7,098 by June 2025.
Afterwards, as the return of resident doctors shifted into full swing, the numbers decreased again.
By medical specialty, the increase in general practitioners working at dermatological clinics was particularly noticeable.
Even without a specialist qualification, general practitioners can open clinics and provide treatment by registering departments such as dermatology.
The number of general practitioners at dermatological clinics rose from 571 in December 2023 to 1,051 in December 2024, reaching 1,285 in June of last year.
As of March of this year, the figure stood at 1,022, which is 1.8 times the scale recorded in December 2023 before the medical conflict.
The same pattern was observed in general clinics.
General practitioners at general clinics increased from 2,376 in December 2023 to 2,808 in December 2024, and further rose to 3,049 in June of last year.
Even in March of this year, there were 2,618 such practitioners, 242 more than before the medical conflict.
In contrast, the post-return surge of general practitioners in internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, and plastic surgery dropped significantly.
The number of general practitioners in internal medicine increased from 232 in December 2023 to 575 in June of last year, before declining to 278 in March of this year.
Orthopedic surgery (62 to 341 to 124) and plastic surgery (137 to 292 to 196) followed a similar trend over the same periods.
Otolaryngology saw an increase from 37 to 144 before dropping back to 38, returning to pre-conflict levels.
The research team stated, "With the return of resident doctors in September 2025, the number of general practitioners decreased across most medical departments, but dermatology and general clinics maintained a significant portion of the increases gained during the period of medical conflict."
They added, "Due to the characteristics of HIRA data, which compiles the overall count of general practitioners rather than individual doctors, it is not possible to directly verify whether the increased general practitioners represent resigned resident doctors; however, the timing and scale of the changes align closely, suggesting a strong correlation."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.