Doubts surround plan to boost med school enrollment

While the government is expected to increase the enrollment quotas of medical schools significantly, questions remain about whether the plan will effectively address the shortage of doctors in provincial regions.

Doctors walk across a corridor at a hospital in Seoul on Dec. 28, 2022. [NEWS1]

While the government is expected to increase the enrollment quotas of medical schools significantly, questions remain about whether the plan will effectively address the shortage of doctors in provincial regions.

More than 60 percent of pediatricians in Seoul studied at medical schools located in regional cities as of June this year, according to the Ministry of Welfare and Health’s data submitted to People Power Party Rep. Lee Jong-seong.

Some 132 people of the 203 pediatrics and 192 of the 304 gynecologists in Seoul studied in medical schools located in provincial regions, leaving the area where they studied to work in the capital.

According to the University of Ulsan, one of the top five medical schools in the country, only 13 out of 185 graduates who studied at the school in the past five years are working in the region. The rest mostly left the area to work in the greater Seoul area.

One contributing factor is students training at Asan Medical Center, the university’s hospital located in Songpa District, southern Seoul, as mentioned by Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Seo Dong-yong during an interview with local broadcaster KBS earlier this month.

The exodus of doctors to Seoul continues despite the government's stipulation allowing medical schools in rural areas to admit a certain percentage of students — mostly over 40 percent — from provincial regions since 2015.

The percentage of students from rural areas accepted to 26 med schools in regional cities rose from 42.6 percent in 2021 to 46 percent in 2022 and to 52.4 percent in 2023, according to the Education Ministry’s data shared by DP Rep. Shin Hyun-young.

The Yoon government’s push to increase the enrollment quota of medical schools by an expected 1,000 students seeks to resolve the chronic shortage of doctors in provincial areas.

It also aims to correct the problem of new doctors shunning essential fields, including pediatrics.

The quota for medical school students has remained the same at 3,058 since 2006 for nearly two decades.

Out of the 3,058 quota, 826 are in Seoul, 267 in Gangwon, and 250 in Busan, according to the Ministry of Education.

On Monday, the provincial government of South Gyeongsang stressed the importance and urgency of raising the enrollment quota of med school students from its current 76 to over 150.

It said the quota should be raised sharply, especially for medical schools in provincial areas.

It also urged the development of a system to encourage graduates to work in the region as doctors.

The province has 1.74 doctors for every 1,000 people, lower than the nationwide average of 2.18.

Meanwhile, academic consultants expect that the number of university students retaking suneung, or Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), will surge this year.

According to Jongro Academy, one of Korea’s most famous cram schools for preparing for the CSAT, the number has steadily risen from 68,283 in 2014 to 70,850 in 2019 and 81,116 in 2023.

The figure is expected to rise to as high as 89,642 for next year’s admission.

“Many students preparing for science and math-related subjects have turned to medical school preparations lately,” Lim Sung-ho, the CEO of Jongro Academy, told the JoongAng Ilbo.

This year’s suneung for the 2024 college admission is slated for Nov. 16.

The government is expected to unveil specific details on the med school enrollment quota by the end of this year after consulting with doctors, including the Korean Medical Association, who have been protesting against the plan.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]