As early as 2014, the one-year internship program for medical school graduates will be scrapped and replaced with strengthened residency training, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday.

A ministry committee for medical reform found the internship system ineffective and time-consuming for students who have already spent more than six years preparing to become doctors.

Currently, medical school graduates are placed at hospitals as interns, rotate through main departments for a year, select their specialty and apply for four-year residency to become a medical specialist.

The program, adopted in 1958 after a similar U.S. system, was credited for providing on-job experience before choosing a specific area of the profession. However, the training period has been criticized for being too long and hospitals have been accused of offering minimal compensation for work which often exceeds 60 hours a week.

The abolishment of the medical internships is also expected to activate the family doctor service, which does not involve residency.

The ministry is conducting relevant research, and medical insiders including the Korean Academy of Medical Science have reportedly supported the plan.

“The necessity to scrap medical internship has been widely agreed and we will fine tune related works in the near future,” a high ranking official of the ministry said.

The panel also suggested that the government collect additional national health insurance premiums from salaried workers if they earn extra income including private pension, housing rent and financial income.

The authorities will begin with those who have a large amount of income, then expand additional premium collection to others with extra income, the ministry said.

“Ultimately, national health insurance premiums will be collected pursuant to consolidated incomes, including salary,” the ministry official said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)