Earlier this month, the government ordered a study to develop a national examination to open up certain tattoo procedures to non-medical professionals, which are currently only allowed to be conducted by medical professionals.
With the standoff between the government and the association of doctors over the debate of increasing the number of medical school students being prolonged, opposition from the medical community is expected to become stronger.
According to the government and the medical community on the 7th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare ordered a study on the “Development and Management of the Tattooist Qualification Examination and Continuing Education System” on the 4th of this month.
The Ministry plans to create a final research report in November of this year and use the results to establish detailed regulations for implementing the national tattooist examination and education on tattooist hygiene and safety management.
A ministry official explained the background behind this research order, “There is increasing social demand for institutionalized tattoo procedures. We are preparing in advance through research to respond to the numerous bills that the National Assembly previously proposed.”
With the changes in social perception of tattoos and the subsequent increase in tattoo demand, 11 bills addressing non-medical practitioner qualifications, business establishment reports, and hygiene and safety standards have been proposed between 2020 and 2023.
Under the current law, tattooing is a medical act, and the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court have not allowed anyone other than medical professionals, recognized by the state, to perform the procedure due to health hazards that can arise if a non-medical professional attempts the procedure.
In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that tattooing is a medical act. In addition, last year, the Constitutional Court made a 5 to 4 constitutional petition filed by the tattooist union “Tattoo Union”, which stated that “The Medical Law, which allows only medical professionals to tattoo, violates the constitution.”
The association of doctors has also emphasized that according to this legal judgment, only medical professionals can give tattoos.
After the Korean Tattooist Association held a press conference urging the legalization of tattoos in front of the Supreme Court on October 10th last year, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) issued its position, saying, “We express serious concern and regret.”
With the ongoing legislative drive in the National Assembly, followed by the government’s research order for national exams that allow non-medical professionals to perform tattoos, significant backlash is expected to come from doctors.
This research order can be seen as the government’s attempt to reduce the “activity range” of medical professionals in the beauty field, such as tattoos, following the use of physician assistant (PA) nurses and the full expansion of non-face-to-face treatment to fill the “medical gap” caused by the departure of residents who opposed increasing the number of medical school students.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to expand the scope of nurses’ work by conducting a “clinical support personnel pilot project” before the deadline for residents to return, on the premise of exemption from disadvantages (29th of last month).
Through the pilot project, the range of tasks nurses can perform can be determined by the head of the medical institution, through an internal committee, or a consultation with the head of the nursing department. PA nurses are replacing some tasks that are unique to doctors.
The government also pressured the association of doctors by temporarily allowing full non-face-to-face treatment, which doctors had previously opposed, during the residents’ departure.
This research order is also significant in terms of the timing, as it was ordered on the 4th, which is when the government started to suspend the doctoral license of residents who did not return.
On the 4th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare began to check the returning status of residents by dispatching its employees to 50 training hospitals nationwide.
From the following day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare sent a notice of future consequences to non-returning residents.
Yonhap News
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