Pediatricians still more likely to be in cities than kids are: report

Koreans living in more populated areas have far easier access to children's medical care compared to the rest of the country, a report by a state-run think-tank showed Wednesday, with half of all pediatricians working in Greater Seoul.

About 49 percent of the that roughly half of the 6,490 registereed pediatricians operated in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province as of the second quarter of 2024, according to the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

The researchers noted that their findings suggest an imbalance between major cities and other areas in terms of children's medical provision, evident even in the figures for Seoul and Gyeonggi.

There were 1,510 registered pediatricians Seoul and 1,691 in Gyeonggi, despite the latter being much larger in size and population. The numbers translate to 1.15 pediatricians per 1,000 people aged 18 or less in Seoul and 0.72 in Gyeonggi. The overall figure for South Korea was 0.8.

Seoul was followed by Busan and Daegu, both with 1.01 pediatricians per 1,000 childrena and teens, and Gwangju, with 0.97. North Gyeongsang Province had the lowest proportion (0.52 per 1,000), followed by South Chungcheong Province (0.56), South Jeolla Province (0.59), and North Chungcheong Province (0.62).

The number of pediatricians in the capital area is not that disproportionate population-wise, as 45 percent of the population lives in these two administrative regions combined.

Geographically, however, Gyeonggi and Seoul cover barely more than 10 percent of the South Korean territory. This means doctors in other areas are much more spread out and children in rural areas may have limited health care options or have to travel long distances for it.

They also pointed out that new doctors were increasingly avoiding pediatrics in general, with the nationwide number of medical residents in pediatrics plummeting from 816 in 2018 to 395 in 2022.

"The decrease in the population of children and teenagers, stemming from a drop in birthrates, has been threatening the medical care system for children. A declining number of trainee doctors specializing in pediatrics, along with medical resources being concentrated in the capital region is becoming a problem," researchers said.

They suggested that policy and legislative changes to improve the compensation system for pediatrics, as were plans to support those wishing to be specialize in medical care for children.