Establishment of Changwon Medical School 'Essential'... National Association of City and County Council Chairs Submits Proposal to Government

The Changwon Special City Council in Gyeongnam announced on the 17th that a government petition urging the establishment of a medical school in the Changwon area was adopted by the Korea Association of Chairpersons of City, County, and District Councils.

According to the city council, the petition proposed by Chairman Kim I-geun, head of the Gyeongnam City and County Council Chairpersons Association, was adopted at the 249th regular meeting of the Korea Association held in Daejeon on the 16th.

The petition includes the necessity to establish a medical school in Changwon to address the imbalance in public medical services between regions based on the expansion of the insufficient medical workforce and to promote balanced regional medical development.

The Korea Association plans to deliver the petition to government agencies by June.

Chairman Kim said, “I deeply appreciate the support and agreement from the chairpersons representing 15 cities and provinces nationwide for the establishment of a medical school in the Changwon area,” adding, “We will do our best to ensure that the establishment of a medical school in Changwon to expand the medical workforce is realized.”

Participants of the Association of Chairpersons of City, County, and District Councils of the Republic of Korea are taking a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Changwon Special City Council, Gyeongnam]

According to a city council official, the quota for medical schools in the province is 76 students, which is only 2.3 per 100,000 people, far below the national average of 5.9, and the number of doctors per 1,000 people in the province is 1.71, also below the national average of 2.13.

Due to the shortage of medical personnel, 14 out of 18 cities and counties in the province have been designated as emergency medical vulnerable areas, and the rate of unmet medical needs, where patients cannot receive necessary hospital or clinic treatment, is among the highest nationwide.

Efforts to establish a medical school in the Changwon area began in 1992 when Changwon University applied to open a pre-medical course with a quota of 40 students and have continued to this day.

Since the launch of the Changwon Medical School Attraction Pan-Citizen Promotion Committee in March, various efforts have been made across the province, including a petition campaign with one million citizen signatures, delivery of government petitions and joint press conferences by the Gyeongnam Provincial Council and Changwon City Council urging establishment, and adoption of related petitions by the Gyeongnam City and County Council Chairpersons Association and the Gyeongnam Mayors and Governors Association, all voicing unified support for the establishment of a medical school in Changwon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.