Is it unfair for overseas medical school graduates to get a doctor's license in S. Korea?

Some doctors argue getting into overseas medical schools is easier than in S. Korea

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Amid the intensifying race to enter domestic medical schools among elite South Korean students, an increasing number of aspiring doctors are moving overseas to attend medical school, especially in Hungary, data showed Monday. After studying at foreign medical schools recognized by the Korean government, it is possible for Korean nationals to acquire medical licenses here upon passing two tests. However, some doctors argue that this is unfair, as domestic medical schools are much more difficult to get into.

Rep. Jung Choun-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, unveiled a list of overseas medical schools recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Monday.

The ministry's list includes 159 universities from 38 countries as of June. Candidates for the Korean medical license must have graduated from a university on the list. Graduates from those schools need to pass a separate preliminary exam in order to be given a chance to take the state licensing exam. Once they pass the state licensing exam, they can obtain a domestic doctor's license.

Among Koreans who graduated from overseas medical schools, the biggest number of those obtained a Korean medical license in the last five years were graduates from Hungarian medical schools, according to state data.

Meanwhile, it is getting more challenging to enter medical school in Korea, as it is seen as highly desirable among many students here, according to experts and observers. The obsession with getting into medical school is forcing more students to take college entrance exams over and over again until they get admitted. Three out of 4 students admitted into medical schools across the country in the past four years had taken the entrance exam multiple times, according to recent data released by Rep. Kang Deuk-gu.

Therefore, some doctors claim that it is unfair for those who graduated from overseas medical schools to receive the same medical license as those from domestic medical schools.

A group of doctors who call themselves Doctors Who Want a Fair Society recently filed an administrative lawsuit against the Health Ministry to limit the number of Hungarian medical graduates who can take the licensure exam to obtain a domestic doctor's license.

"Four medical schools in Hungary in particular do not meet the Health Ministry’s standards, and doctors who graduated from domestic medical schools are disadvantaged in employment and many ways," they claimed.

The Seoul Administrative Court rejected the group’s lawsuit, saying it was not targeting a specific disposition made by the Health Ministry, and thus did not meet litigation requirements.

However, there are also many who argue that it is not easy to graduate from foreign medical schools. “It is relatively easy to enter foreign medical schools, including those in Hungary, but it is difficult to graduate,” a private afterschool academy official told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.

Doctor-turned-lawmaker Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party said: "More and more people are becoming doctors in Korea after graduating from overseas medical schools. I will strive to check the evaluation of the medical curriculum overseas regularly and to foster good doctors."

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)