There is a general consensus in the medical community that there would practically be no trainee doctors applying for the year's second-half recruitment offered by the nation's training hospitals, including the "Big Five" general hospitals in Seoul.

According to the medical community on Monday, almost no trainee doctor applications have been received by the "Big Five," including Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, the Samsung Medical Center, and the Asan Medical Center, since July 22.

Each of these hospitals are seeking to recruit hundreds of interns and resident doctors by this Wednesday.

An official at one of the "Big Five" hospitals said eligible applicants are seemingly very cautious about submitting an application amid a call among medical professors to boycott training at this time.

Expecting only about ten percent of the eligible applicants to submit their documents by Wednesday's deadline, an official from another hospital said young licensed doctors may seek employment as a general practitioner amid a collective resignation of trainee doctors in protest of state medical reforms.