Plan to Expand Medical School Quotas to Be Announced on the 19th... Possibility of Increasing by 'More Than 1000' Students

Over 1,000 Likely Instead of 351 or 521
Introduction of Public Medical Schools or Regional Doctor System Uncertain

The government is expected to announce next week that the increase in medical school admissions will be significantly larger than initially planned, exceeding '1,000 students.'

Medical staff can be seen in the emergency room of Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to statements from government officials on the 14th, President Yoon Seok-yeol will announce the scale, schedule, and method of expanding medical school admissions on the 19th. Since President Yoon himself will announce the expansion scale, it is expected to include groundbreaking measures.

Proposals have included restoring the 351 students (10%) reduced following the 2000 separation of drug prescribing and dispensing, or increasing admissions by 521 students focusing on national universities with smaller quotas, but it is highly likely that the increase will exceed 1,000 students.

The government commissioned three specialized institutions, including the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, to analyze future medical demand and physician supply, and the results showed a shortage of 10,000 doctors by 2035.

As the doctor shortage worsens, weakening local medical systems and with no applicants for essential medical fields such as pediatrics and surgery, the government is considering a significant increase in medical school admissions.

Medical school admissions have been capped at 3,058 students since 2006, after a 10% reduction in 2000 due to demands from medical associations opposing the separation of drug prescribing and dispensing. If the increase exceeds 1,000 students, admissions will rise by more than 30% compared to the current level.

The government plans to apply the expanded admissions starting with the 2025 college entrance exam, taken by current high school sophomores. If implemented as planned, this will be the first increase in medical school admissions in 19 years.

Doctors are voicing opposition to the expansion. They argue that even with more doctors, the reluctance to work in essential medical fields or the imbalance in doctor distribution between regions will not be resolved, and medical education quality may deteriorate.

To address these issues, some suggest establishing public medical schools or introducing a regional doctor system. Public medical schools recruit students on the condition that they work as public doctors for a certain period, while the regional doctor system requires students to work in designated areas as a condition of admission. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has expressed reluctance toward these measures, and the Medical Association also opposes them.

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong recently stated at a parliamentary audit, "The establishment of public medical schools should be approached cautiously." Regarding the regional doctor system, he said, "We will conduct in-depth reviews," but also added, "We will announce a policy package to alleviate regional imbalances together with the medical school admissions expansion."

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