Surge in 'General Practitioners in Dermatology' Amid Resident Resignations and Returns

A medical research study has revealed that the number of general practitioners (GPs) working in dermatology increased during the process of resident doctors collectively resigning and subsequently returning amid the medical-governmental conflict in 2024.

In particular, the number of dermatology GPs remained significantly higher than before the medical-governmental conflict even after residents returned to their training.

The number of GPs working at clinics registered with dermatology as their medical department stood at 571 before the 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 GPs before and after the collective resignation of resident doctors, based on Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) data from December 2022 to March 2026.

The results of this study were published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science (JKMS) last month.

Previously, when the government announced in February 2024 that it would increase medical school admission quotas by 2,000, resident doctors protested by collectively resigning from training hospitals.

Although a significant portion of residents returned to training in September of last year, the prolonged medical-governmental conflict has substantially altered the landscape of domestic medical personnel.

Resident doctors working at training hospitals plummeted by 90.7%, from 13,001 in December 2023—just before the conflict—to 1,208 in December 2024.

Over the same period, GPs working at medical institutions other than training hospitals increased by 64.8%, rising from 5,557 to 9,157.

GPs working at clinic-level medical institutions increased from 3,915 in December 2023 to 6,436 in December 2024, and further to 7,098 in June 2025.

They decreased again as the return of resident doctors got underway in earnest.

By medical department, the increase in GPs working at clinic-level dermatology was pronounced.

Even without a specialist qualification, general practitioners can open clinics and provide treatment by registering departments such as dermatology.

GPs at dermatology clinics increased from 571 in December 2023 to 1,051 in December 2024, and to 1,285 in June of last year.

As of March this year, the figure stood at 1,022, which is 1.8 times the scale of 571 recorded in December 2023 before the medical-governmental conflict.

The same pattern was observed in general clinics.

GPs at general clinics increased from 2,376 in December 2023 to 2,808 in December 2024, and further to 3,049 in June of last year.

Even in March of this year, there were 2,618, which was 242 more than before the conflict.

In contrast, the post-return increase in GPs dropped significantly in internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, and plastic surgery.

GPs 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) showed similar trends during this period.

Otolaryngology increased from 37 to 144 before dropping to 38, returning to pre-conflict levels.

The research team stated, "While the number of general practitioners decreased across most medical departments as residents returned in September 2025, dermatology and general clinics maintained a significant portion of the increase gained during the period of medical conflict."

They added, "Due to the characteristics of HIRA data, which tabulates the overall number of general practitioners rather than individual doctors, it is not possible to directly verify whether the increased general practitioners refer to the resigned residents; however, the timing and scale of the changes coincide, suggesting a strong correlation."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.