Objectives: This study explores the current status of rural home visit medical services provided by public health doctors of Korean medicine (PHDKMs) and evaluates the feasibility of expanding their roles to include slight medical practice, aiming to enhance healthcare access in underserved areas.Methods: An online survey was conducted from March 10–16, 2025, targeting 951 PHDKMs. A total of 204 responses were received (response rate: 27.97%), and 150 were analyzed after excluding those not currently engaged in home visits. The questionnaire covered service provision, unmet patient needs, and perceptions regarding slight medical practice.Results: Among respondents, 75.3% regularly conducted home visits, compared to 16.7% of medical doctors. Common services included musculoskeletal care, chronic disease counseling, and internal medicine. However, unmet needs remained high in rehabilitation, wound care, vaccinations, and IV therapy. The need and willingness to perform slight medical practice scored highly (mean 4.47/5). Prescription of medications for chronic diseases showed the highest perceived utility (4.46), followed by vaccinations and wound care. Respondents agreed that expanding their practice scope could improve care quality, increase access, and reduce urban-rural disparities.Conclusions: PHDKMs contribute significantly to rural healthcare but face limitations due to current legal and institutional constraints. Allowing slight medical practice, especially in the management of chronic diseases, could help strengthen service delivery and enhance the rural public health system.
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Jeong et al. (2025) studied this question.
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