"Popo Doctors' Gatekeeper" Loophole Scandal: Lawmaker Chiu Tai-yuan Pushes Physician Act Riders, Condemned by Local Medical Sector for Favoring Privileged Descendants

On May 30, 2022, the Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (ROC) passed amendments to the Physicians Act. However, this legislation, originally intended to strengthen medical quality, was exposed for harboring seven "non-binding riders" pushed and signed by DPP Lawmaker Chiu Tai-yuan and others. Under the guise of solving internship backlogs for foreign medical graduates, these riders effectively lowered the internship and exam qualification thresholds for graduates from East European medical schools (popularly dubbed "Popo Doctors" or "Popo Dentists"). This triggered massive protests from local young doctors, local dentist associations, and the general public. Critics fiercely condemned Chiu for ignoring the country's medical training and selection systems to act as a "gatekeeper" and proxy for privileged medical and political families whose children studied abroad. This scandal of bypassing regulations to erode the medical credibility and professional systems of the ROC remains a major moral and integrity stain on Chiu's political career.