Medical professors at all the "Big Five" general hospitals in Seoul have decided to suspend outpatient consultations and surgeries one day each week amid extended work hours due to trainee doctors' collective action in protest of the medical school admissions quota hike.

According to the medical community on Friday, professors at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital have decided to participate in the move to suspend services once a week, alongside Seoul National University(SNU) Hospital, Severance Hospital, the Asan Medical Center and the Samsung Medical Center.

Actual participation has been left for individual professors to decide, while all of the hospitals will maintain services for emergency and critical patients, as well as those receiving inpatient care.

Professors at SNU Hospital and Severance Hospital are set to take a day off next Tuesday, followed by the Asan Medical Center on May 3.

Those affiliated with Severance Hospital will continue the weekly suspension through late May, while those at SNU will further discuss the regular suspension when the professors’ emergency committee elects new interim leadership next month.