Surprise Announcement on Medical School Quota Increase Next Week... Could It Be Due to the Upcoming General Election?

Public Support Grows for Increasing Medical School Quotas
Medical Community Says "Even If Medical School Quotas Increase, Essential and Regional Healthcare Won't Improve..."

The government will announce next week a plan to expand the admission quota for medical schools starting from the 2025 university entrance exam. An increase of more than 500 students per year is being seriously considered. Although the medical community strongly opposes this, public opinion favors increasing the medical school quota. With the general election just over six months away, politicians from both ruling and opposition parties are likely to respond to public expectations. If the medical school quota is increased to revive essential and regional healthcare, there is growing support for drastic measures to prevent doctors from leaving for cosmetic procedures such as Botox, fillers, and skin laser treatments.

The medical school quota has been fixed at 3,058 students annually for 18 years since 2006. The proposed increase ranges from restoring the 351 students (10%) reduced due to opposition from doctors during the separation of prescribing and dispensing roles, to an increase of about 500 students. To this end, the government has been consulting with the medical community through a medical issues consultative body since early this year, and since August, discussions have been held through the social organization, the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee, involving not only the medical community but also healthcare consumers. Since expanding the medical school quota is a long-standing government agenda and public support is strong, an increase of more than 500 students is being considered.

The expansion of the medical school quota will be reflected starting from the 2025 university entrance exam. On the 11th, Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated at the Health and Welfare Committee’s national audit, “We are making efforts to increase the medical school quota starting from the 2025 entrance exam.”

The government’s strong determination to expand the medical school quota stems from the worsening gaps in essential and regional healthcare in South Korea. Even the country’s top five hospitals are experiencing repeated shortages of residents applying for less favored specialties such as pediatrics and thoracic surgery. It has become common for regional general hospitals to repeatedly post job openings offering annual salaries of 300 to 400 million KRW for doctors, yet still face shortages. Furthermore, with population aging, the demand for medical services is surging compared to the supply, and the healthcare gap is expected to deepen.

However, the government assesses that the number of doctors in South Korea is severely insufficient compared to OECD member countries. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Jeong Chun-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party, in 2020, the number of medical school graduates per 100,000 people was 7.2, only 56% of the OECD average of 13.6. The Ministry predicts that even if the medical school quota is dramatically increased by 1,000 students annually starting next year, the number of doctors per 1,000 people (excluding Korean medicine doctors) will only reach 2.88 by 2035. This is just 64% of the OECD average of 4.5 doctors per 1,000 people in 2035.

On the other hand, the medical community believes that even if the medical school quota is increased, without radical policies to revive essential and regional healthcare, it will not be possible to prevent doctors from shifting to primary care clinics in plastic surgery and dermatology. A medical community official said, “Because cosmetic procedures like fillers and Botox are less demanding and more profitable than essential medical care, many newly licensed doctors are entering the cosmetic private practice field,” adding, “The healthcare gap is due to a lack of policy, not a shortage of doctors.” Even in specialties like plastic surgery, which have a high proportion of non-reimbursed treatments, some services such as consultation fees and pharmaceuticals are covered by insurance, which could actually drain the health insurance budget.

However, public opinion strongly supports increasing the medical school quota. According to a “National Medical Issues Survey” released on the 10th by Kim Won-i, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party, the majority of the public believes the medical school quota should be increased by 300 to 1,000 students. Among them, 24.0% responded that the increase should be more than 1,000 students.

The medical community may resort to strikes if conflicts escalate to the worst level. In 2020, when the previous government announced a plan to increase the medical school quota by 4,000 over 10 years, a medical community strike occurred, causing the policy implementation plan to collapse.

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