Institutes launch 'office workers' class' for doctor-wannabes, amid med school craze

This photo taken on Thursday shows medical staff of a hospital in Seoul walking. (Yonhap)

Private education institutes across South Korea have been expanding the number of classes for students preparing for medical school, with some promoting night classes for office workers wishing to become doctors.

Mega Study, a major private education institute, held an information session earlier this week about a night class for medical school hopefuls which will open on March 18. According to the institute, the majority of the inquiries were made by those in their early to mid-30s who were graduates of prestigious universities and working in various fields.

The move is in response to the government plan to increase the enrollment quota of medical schools by 2,000. The previous cap of 3,058, had remained unchanged since 2006. The plan, however, has been met with fierce opposition from local physicians, with trainee doctors staging a mass walkout in protest.

In contrast to the doctors' disdain toward the plan, the enrollment hike has boosted the nation's interest in the already-popular profession. Last Thursday, it was reported that over 3,000 students applied for just five unclaimed spots at medical schools in the 2024 admission process.

Last year, 1,642 students applied for four late-admission spots, meaning the competition went from 410.5-to-one to 618.6-to-one.

Megastudy is the first in the industry to launch a class specifically for office workers, but others have also been making efforts to attract them as well. Another major institute Etoos posted promotional remarks such as, "Congratulations on enrollment hike!" and "Going to med school is easy! Office workers should take a shot at it, too!"

It is unclear how many of the workers would actually succeed in becoming doctors. A recent report by the local job-searching platform Blind Hire suggests that 56 percent of South Korean employees have attempted to switch jobs at least once.

The report also showed that doctors on average are the highest-paid profession among Blind Hire users with an average annual salary of 250 million won ($188,000). This far surpasses the second most lucrative career as a lawyer with an average salary of 100 million won and offers an explanation as to why many may wish to switch their careers to become doctors.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)