A local government in South Jeolla and Gwangju, where medical facilities are poor, has seen a large number of applicants for senior doctor recruitment positions.

Sinan County, Jeollanam-do Gwangju Integrated Special City, announced today (the 19th) that "six people applied for the publicly posted senior doctor recruitment."

While there were zero applicants during three rounds of open recruitment in the first half of this year, this time was different.

The county explained that the large turnout is believed to be due to the county raising the monthly salary by 20 million won from 13 million won to offer 33 million won.

The county, which set out to secure experienced doctors to improve medical accessibility for residents in medically vulnerable areas, held an open recruitment until yesterday for one "senior doctor" targeting physicians aged 60 or older.

Currently, the number of medical public health doctors in Sinan County has decreased by 28.6% in a single year, dropping from 21 in 2025 to 15 this year.

As a result, 8 out of the 16 health sub-centers within the jurisdiction, accounting for nearly half, currently have no doctors assigned.

At present, one public health doctor from a neighboring health facility rotates and continues medical treatment at up to four health sub-centers once or twice a week.

However, given the regional characteristics of having a high proportion of elderly residents and chronic disease patients, there are limits to meeting ongoing medical demands through such rotational care alone, making the stable recruitment of medical personnel necessary.

In response, the county offered exceptional compensation packages to secure essential medical staff.

Under the working conditions, a pre-tax monthly salary of 33 million won is provided for a five-day work week, and 26.4 million won per month pre-tax for a four-day work week.

The county formulated these compensation standards by comprehensively considering factors such as rotational work including island areas, high clinical experience requirements, and difficulties in securing medical personnel due to the decline in public health doctors.

The newly hired doctor will rotate between health centers and health sub-centers to handle general medical treatments, vaccination pre-checkups, and issuance of certificates and diagnoses.

In addition, they are scheduled to carry out a non-face-to-face remote cooperative medical treatment pilot project targeting health facilities where medical public health doctors have not been assigned.

Sinan County Mayor Kim Tae-sung said, "We will continuously supplement the medical treatment system in medically vulnerable areas so that island residents can receive the same medical services as those in urban areas."

(Photo: Yonhap News / Provided by Sinan County)