Defense ministry to send more military doctors to general hospitals if requested

The defense ministry said Monday it will dispatch more military doctors to general hospitals within available resources if requested to help address concerns of medical service disruptions due to an ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors.Earlier in the day, the ministry dispatched 20 military doctors to such hospitals for four weeks as thousands of trainee doctors remained off their jobs since last month to protest the government's plan to sharply increase the number of medical students next year."If there are additional requests, the military will establish the conditions for medical support within available resources," Jeon Ha-kyou, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular briefing when asked if the military could dispatch more doctors.Jeon said Monday's deployment would have minimal impact on the military's operations, noting there are some 2,400 military doctors in service.As part of efforts to minimize medical service disruptions from the mass walkout, the military has also fully opened the emergency rooms of its hospitals nationwide to civilians.As of Monday noon, 200 civilians had been treated at military hospitals since they fully opened their doors on Feb. 20.Source: Yonhap News Agency