More SNU medical students takes entrepreneurship courses

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea is seeing a significant increase in the number of medical students taking entrepreneurship courses at Seoul National University (SNU), one of the top public universities in Seoul. This change appears to be driven by the demand for interdisciplinary talents in various fields, changes in students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship, and the success stories of startups in medical application fields, including biotech.

According to SNU data obtained by Maeil Business Newspaper on Sunday, the number of SNU medical students who enrolled in entrepreneurship courses increased almost 20-fold in the last two years. While no students took the entrepreneurship course offered in the first semester of 2021, four students took the course in the second semester, followed by 25 students in 2022 and 74 students in 2023.

“This increase in numbers is because the demand for interdisciplinary talents has also increased, leading medical students to consider entrepreneurship as an option beyond practicing as doctors,” Lee Hye-jun, who founded artificial intelligence (AI)-based embryo screening solution startup Kai Health Co. after graduating from Seoul National University College of Medicine (SNUCM).

“SNUCM not only hosts an annual entrepreneurship competition but also provides opportunities for students to intern at startups founded by alumni,” Lee said, explaining that “Generation MZ’s perception of venturing outside the stable option of being a doctor has changed positively.”

This trend is expected to continue to grow moving forward, as the number of entrepreneurship courses and participating colleges increase at the university, thus broadening the range of options for medical students.

SNU had only 10 entrepreneurship courses offered by the College of Engineering and the College of Business Administration (9 major courses and 1 liberal arts course) with a total of 313 students enrolled in 2018, but the number of entrepreneurship courses increased to 26 (23 major courses and 3 liberal arts courses) in 2019, with the number of students more than tripling to 1,009. More colleges also offered the courses, including the College of Medicine, School of Business, School of Law, and Graduate School of Dentistry.

As of 2022, the number of entrepreneurship courses at SNU increased to 34 (32 major courses and 2 liberal arts courses), with the College of Veterinary Medicine, Graduate School of Data Science, and Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology also offering the courses.

“By offering these entrepreneurship courses, student entrepreneurs’ business ideas are not limited to their own majors, but can be moved forward based on convergence research,” an SNU official said,

“Looking at social conditions such as the growth of the bio-health industry fused with information technology (IT) and the success stories of seniors who ventured beyond the traditional medical field, MZ generation medical students are opening up to various career possibilities through free thinking,” You Hwa-jin, an attorney and the first female doctor in Korea to serve as a judge after graduating from SNUCM, said. “Doctor-led startups will positively influence the healthy growth of the bio-health industry and protection of patient health.”