South Korean doctors eye move to Vietnam

More than 30 of them took a health test late last month and are now preparing for an English exam to be held at the HCMC University of Medicine & Pharmacy within two months. Foreign doctors from nations with advanced healthcare systems are not required to pass local qualification exams to work in Vietnam, but need to furnish the professional licenses issued in their home countries and undergo a health check and an English test.

A representative of a company that helps translate and notarize documents for foreign doctors said many South Korean cosmetic surgeons, dermatologists, dentists, and emergency medicine specialists are interested in working in Vietnam.

Many are looking for career opportunities in Vietnam this year, unhappy with the working conditions at private clinics in their country and enticed by those available in the latter nation.

A private medical facility in Hanoi offers a 44-hour work week, a monthly salary of 30 million won (US$22,000) and $800 in housing assistance to South Korean doctors.

In South Korea, doctors have been at odds with the government over a plan to boost medical school admissions by 2,000 per year.

Some 12,000 trainee doctors walked out in February to protest the change, resulting in widespread cancellations of surgeries and other essential treatments.

The government has since made several attempts to alleviate the pressures on the country’s medical system. The strike is ongoing.

The number of emergency room doctors has declined by 42% at hospitals across the nation, with seven of them contemplating partial closure of emergency rooms, Yonhap News Agency reported last month, citing a medical professors association.