Medical professors in South Korea are set to reduce their working hours this week to cope with growing fatigue caused by a protracted walkout by junior doctors. According to an emergency response committee for medical professors nationwide, the professors, who are senior doctors at major hospitals, will cut back their working hours starting Monday, reports Yonhap news agency.
“Although we have been treating patients without time constraints and reducing their numbers, it seems that we have reached our physical limits,” Bang Jae-seung, head of the committee, told a press conference Saturday. “We will readjust our work hours.”Bang said a recent survey of a university hospital showed professors’ weekly work hours range from 60 to 98, and the committee has agreed professors will take daytime work hours off the day after working 24 consecutive hours.