Seoul, Aug 9 (IANS): Hospitals in South Korea started announcing new recruitment notices for trainee doctors on Friday, following a lacklustre response from the medical community to the initial round that ended last week amid the months-long conflict over a medical reform plan.

The move comes as the number of applicants accounted for just 1.4 per cent of the 7,645 positions available during the previous attempt to recruit doctors for the training programs starting in September, Yonhap news agency reported.

The government said that the new round of recruitment is based on the belief that some doctors were willing to return but were unable to do so due to short application periods and external perceptions.

Last month, hospitals processed resignations from thousands of trainee doctors who have been protesting the medical school quota hike since February, which has allowed departing doctors to seek new jobs and enabled hospitals to recruit fresh trainees.

However, some medical professors, who work as senior doctors, have vowed to boycott the training of new applicants, calling on the government to fully abandon the reform plan before engaging in any negotiations, the report said.

Pundits say that trainee doctors whose resignations have been processed are more likely to seek job opportunities at community clinics, despite the government's promise of special considerations, including an exemption from the rule that prohibits applying to the same department within a single year.

This trend persists despite the government's assurances of special considerations, such as exemptions from the rule barring reapplications to the same department within a year.

"Most of the trainee doctors are unlikely to return to the September program. Instead, they plan to work as general practitioners for the time being and decide later whether to resume their training," said a resigned trainee doctor at the moment.