South Korean Plastic Surgeon Claims More Medical Interns Will Assault Female Patients

Plastic surgeon who posted his disapproval of medical school admission quota expansion
“If the number of medical students increases, more doctors will grope female patients’ breasts”
How many doctors have committed sexual crimes?

As resident doctors oppose medical school admission quota expansion and go on strike, the wrongdoings of doctors are being exposed to the world. This time, a plastic surgeon posted an article expressing his disapproval, but he drew criticism for using an inappropriate example.

On the 13th, a famous plastic surgeon in Gangnam, Seoul, shared “an experience from his medical school internship” on social media.

He wrote, “A surgery professor examined a young woman’s chest. She came to the hospital because she felt a lump in her breast while showering. The professor looked at the ultrasound, told her not to worry because it seemed like a benign tumor, and asked her a favor.” He continued, “The professor asked if it was okay for the interns next to him to touch her tumor area for a palpation practice, and although the patient looked nervous, she agreed.”

He continued, “The moment the annual medical school enrollment quota increases by 2,000, five of them will have to do it instead of three. If five of them do it, female patients will feel 100% violated and run away.”

This argument suggests that if the number of medical students increases, more doctors will palpate sensitive parts of patients, making female patients feel more uncomfortable.

The argument is that more medical students would mean more doctors palpating patients’ sensitive body parts, which would make female patients feel more uncomfortable.

The post quickly spread to online communities, attracting criticism from netizens.

As the controversy grew, the plastic surgeon deleted the post.

Last January, according to data received by Nam In Soon, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Korean National Police Agency, 793 doctors (including oriental and dentists) were arrested for sexual crimes for five years from 2018 to 2022.

Among them, the most common crimes were rape and forced indecent acts, with 689 doctors (86.9%), followed by illegal filming with 80 doctors (10.1%), and lewd acts using communication media with 19 doctors (2.4%).

A 40-year-old doctor, Yeom, who prescribed drugs to Shin, the perpetrator who hit and killed a woman in her 20s while driving under the influence of drugs in the “Rolls Royce incident” last year, was investigated for sexually assaulting and illegally filming about 10 female patients under anesthesia.

Yang, a plastic surgeon who was selected as the plastic surgery doctor for a reality program produced by a cable channel, sexually molested two program participants in a row on the same day. It was also revealed during the investigation that he had committed sexual molestation in the previous year.

There were several other cases as well.

According to the “Status of License Suspension for Doctors Convicted of Sexual Crimes” obtained by MoneyToday through the office of the Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young Seok, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, there were four cases of license suspension due to sexual crimes for four years from 2020 to last year.

They only received a one-month license suspension, and there were no license revocation cases.