창작과 비평

The Quarterly Changbi 205, Fall 2024

Abstract

In “Dialogue,” Sociology Professor Paik Young-Gyung at Jeju National University moderates a discussion among frontline healthcare workers Co-President Kim Yongjin at the Seongnam Citizen Action for Public Healthcare, Director Park Kunhee at the Pyeongchang Healthcare Clinic, and Director Emeritus Baik Jaejoong at the Shinchon Union Hospital. Diagnosing the current healthcare situation in Korea and discussing how to solve problems within it, they reveal the problematic situation, in which the essential expansion of public healthcare is not discussed, while the conflict between healthcare fields and the government that began with the issue of the increase in admissions for medical school students is prolonged. Listing a lack of awareness of the need for public hospitals, the fee-for-service system based on the quantity of medical care, and the medical supply system as reasons why public healthcare has not settled in Korea, they argue that it is time for medical institutions to cooperate among themselves for more refined public healthcare. In particular, emphasizing that the strengthening of primary care could be helpful in the expansion of public healthcare, they call, above all, for people’s interest and cooperation in this matter.