South Korea pushes for medical school expansion

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong answers the lawmakers at the National Assembly in Seoul on June 22. [Photo by Yonhap]

The South Korean government is pushing to expand medical schools with an effective compensation plan and increase the enrollment quota with an aim to make it reflected in the 2025 enrollment.

“We are pursuing (the expansion of medical schools) with a strong determination and have reached a certain level of consensus with the medical community,” Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong told lawmakers at the National Assembly on Thursday, adding that the ministry would continue to discuss the specific size of the expansion.

The remarks were a response to a question raised by Representative Lee Jong-seong of the People Power Party regarding the expansion of the medical student quota.

“We will listen to the opinions of the demand side and check the hardware and software of medical schools to see how much they can accommodate,” Cho said. “Drawing from the experience of failing to expand medical schools in 2020, we will make every effort to not only expand the admission capacity but also seek rational compensation measures such as infrastructure expansion and improvement of working conditions, so that they can be reflected in the admission capacity for 2025.”

In particular, he cited the problem of the medical student quota as one of the reasons for the shortage of essential medical personnel. “The shortage of pediatricians and obstetricians and gynecologists stems from the accumulation of various problems, including a lack of demand due to low birthrates, health insurance fees based on a fee-for-service system and the enrollment quota for medical schools that has been frozen for 18 years,” Cho said.

He also mentioned that measures are being taken to ensure that the expansion of medical schools leads to the reinforcement of medical personnel in medically underserved areas. The plan is to increase the proportion of local talent admissions, which currently accounts for 40 percent of medical school admissions, and strike a balance between the capital and non-capital areas in training medical residents.

“Expanding medical school admissions does not immediately resolve regional imbalances,” Cho said, “We will work together with relevant stakeholders to establish various measures, such as strengthening incentives for medical specialists to work in non-capital regions.”

As for the pilot project for non-face-to-face medical care, which was controversial after its launch, Cho said it has stabilized. Earlier this month, there were numerous cases of rejection of non-face-to-face treatment as patients have to prove whether they are having an initial or follow-up care.

“Initially, there were criticisms that we only listened to the opinions of the medical community to implement the project, but now the pilot project has stabilized to some extent,” Cho said, “The most important thing is to legislate non-face-to-face medical treatment, and we will actively work to pass relevant laws at the National Assembly.”