Government to Announce 'Medical School Quota Expansion Plan' Next Week... Applicable from 2025 Admissions

19 Years Since 2006

The government is reportedly planning to announce measures to expand medical school admission quotas next week.

According to the medical community on the 12th, the government is scheduled to announce the scale and schedule of the medical school quota expansion in the latter part of next week.

The quota expansion will be applied starting from the 2025 university entrance exam, which current high school sophomores will take. The government plans to announce the specific expansion scale, the method of expansion, and the annual expansion schedule.

The medical school quota was reduced by 10% in 2000 due to demands from medical organizations opposing the separation of prescribing and dispensing. Since 2006, the quota has been fixed at 3,058 students, so this will be the first increase in 19 years.

Following the medical-government agreement in September 2020, the government has held 14 meetings with the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and the Medical Issues Consultative Body since January to discuss the expansion of medical school quotas and other issues.

In August, the government also formed a Medical Workforce Expert Committee under the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee (HMPDC), including representatives from the Korea Consumer Federation, the Saerogochim Workers' Council, and the Korean Intern Resident Association's Medical Workforce Expert Committee.

The government believes that public opinion in favor of expanding medical school quotas has been formed. In 2021, the number of clinical doctors in South Korea (including Korean medicine doctors) was 2.6 per 1,000 people, the second lowest among all member countries after Mexico (2.5).

In the "2023 National Medical Issues Survey" conducted by Kim Won-i, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party, 24.0% (241 respondents) answered that the medical school quota should be increased by more than 1,000 students.

16.9% (170 respondents) said it should be increased by 300?500 students, 15.4% (154 respondents) by 500?1,000 students, and 11.5% (115 respondents) by 100?300 students. Only 20.2% (203 respondents) said the current quota should be maintained.

However, opposition from medical organizations such as the Korean Medical Association (KMA) is expected. The KMA opposes the quota expansion, stating that "the prerequisite for solving essential and emergency medical issues is distribution rather than increasing the number of doctors."

Previously, the Moon Jae-in administration announced plans in 2000 to increase medical school quotas by 4,000 students over 10 years at a rate of 400 students per year, but the plan was halted due to doctors' strikes.

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