‘I never wanted to go to medical school’: Family rift reflects Korea’s elite-track pressures

386 students dropped out in 2024 as parents pushed students toward medical school rather than allowing them to explore other paths

(Yonhap)

Police were called in late November after a medical student in his 20s reported domestic abuse, saying his father -- a doctor -- was pressuring him to stay in medical school.

When officers arrived, the two were in a heated standoff. The son had just submitted a voluntary withdrawal from medical school, triggering his father’s intense backlash.

To support his claim, the son played an audio recording in which the father berated him: “How could you do this without consulting your family at all, when we raised you for so many years?” Police, however, said the clip showed no evidence of physical abuse or profanity.

Instead, officers noted the strained communication between them, even admonishing the son for addressing his father as “you" -- unusual and considered disrespectful in Korean, where children traditionally use parental titles rather than second-person pronouns.

The son said the conflict had been building for years. “I told my parents since high school that I did not want to go to medical school,” he told Yonhap News. “But my parents gaslit me, saying I must go. My application forms were submitted against my will.”

He had taken leave from medical school shortly after entering in 2023 due to psychological distress. In 2024, during the nationwide doctors’ walkout, he was admitted to a business school but ultimately didn’t enroll because of his parents’ opposition.

The father rejected his son’s request for police-enforced separation, telling officers he “must stay with (his) son to persuade him before the withdrawal form was accepted.” Police later closed the case after finding no evidence of domestic violence and noted the family had made prior reports over similar disputes.

Education experts say the case illustrates the deep social pressure to pursue medicine -- especially in families with doctors -- as medical careers are widely viewed as the most secure elite path.

According to Jongno Academy, 386 students dropped out of medical schools last year, nearly double the 201 students who left the previous year.

Even among the so-called “top five medical schools” -- Seoul National University, Yonsei University, the Catholic University of Korea, Sungkyunkwan University and Ulsan University -- 16 students withdrew last year, the highest figure in five years.

Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, said he recently received a consultation request from a high-performing middle school student who said, “I want to study engineering, but my parents oppose it, and now I’m confused about my values.”

“It felt deeply symbolic,” Lim said. “There is a growing sense of crisis that the only stable career path is a profession like medicine. In families with doctors, this belief is passed down across generations, amplifying conflict.”