Zero Applicants After Three Rounds... Raising Annual Salary to 390 Million Won Brings Turnaround

A local government struggling with zero applicants for a doctor position significantly raised the annual salary, and did it attract applicants after that?

Yes, it avoided having zero applicants.

To resolve medical service gaps, Sinan County in South Jeolla Province recruited experienced "senior doctors" aged 60 or older three times in the first half of this year alone, but not a single person applied.

In response, the county drastically increased the compensation, which was previously 13 million won per month before taxes.

When it offered 33 million won per month based on a 5-day workweek—translating to an annual salary of about 390 million won—six people applied for a single opening.

Only general practitioners with over 20 years of clinical experience or doctors who have worked for 10 years or more at general hospitals or higher after obtaining a specialist qualification were eligible to apply, and six people ended up applying.

The reason for offering such high compensation is that the local medical vacuum is that serious.

Public health doctors in Sinan County decreased from 21 last year to 15 this year, and currently, 8 out of 16 health offices, exactly half of them, have no doctors.

In particular, as Sinan County has many islands and a high proportion of elderly residents, securing stable medical personnel is urgent, and the county plans to reduce the medical vacuum in the island regions through senior doctors.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.