"Doctors, Taste the Expansion of the Garden"... Lawyer's Post Gains Attention

One Lawyer: "Life Has Become Much Harder After Staff Increase"
"Increasing Professionals Always Benefits Consumers"

The Korea Medical Association stated that it will "respond with full force using all available means" following news that the government plans to significantly increase the quota for domestic medical schools starting with the 2025 admissions, a quota that has been frozen since 2006.

The Korean Medical Association stated that it will "mobilize all available means for a full-scale response" to the government's plan to significantly increase the quota for domestic medical schools, which has been fixed since 2006, starting from the 2025 admissions.
[Photo by Pixabay]

Since the expansion of medical school quotas was also attempted three years ago during the Moon Jae-in administration but was scrapped due to opposition from medical organizations, attention is focused on how the government and ruling party will announce the new expansion plan. Some speculate that the increase could be more than 3,000 students rather than just 1,000.

Meanwhile, on the 17th, a lawyer attracted attention by posting a message titled "Let doctors taste what quota expansion feels like" on an anonymous workplace community.

Although the title is somewhat provocative, the overall message is that "increasing the number of professionals ultimately benefits service consumers." The lawyer, Mr. A, who wrote the post on the Blind bulletin board that day, said, "It has been 12 years since the lawyer quota increased from 1,000 to 1,700," adding, "Now financially, it has become tough to make a living, almost comparable to top-tier corporate office workers."

Among them, on the 17th, a lawyer posted a message saying "Doctors should also get a taste of expanding the quota" on an anonymous community for office workers, attracting attention.
[Photo by Anonymous Office Workers Community 'Blind']

Mr. A stated, "Access to legal services has improved tremendously, so now simple legal consultations and litigation delegations are possible at low cost, and even mid-sized and small companies hire in-house lawyers," but he evaluated, "However, compared to the days of the bar exam, the quality of legal services does not seem to differ significantly."

He continued, "Among middle-aged lawyers who passed the bar exam, many cannot even understand basic legal principles and write poor documents, while among those who passed the lawyer exam, some are truly smart," and explained, "Increasing the number of professionals is always beneficial to service consumers unless it causes catastrophic degradation of the profession’s lower end."

He also added, "Why is it that medical licenses are not revoked for serious crimes?" and said, "Our lawyers have their licenses suspended by the Bar Association even if caught in a DUI checkpoint."

The post received significant attention, garnering nearly 1,000 likes and over 1,200 comments.

A pharmacist who read the post commented, "The pharmacist quota increased from 1,200 to 2,000, which led to more late-night pharmacies and restrained price increases for general medicines, benefiting consumers." At the same time, regarding the expansion of medical school quotas, the pharmacist emphasized, "People keep complaining about health insurance premiums, but if the payment items are revised, the benefits such as price reductions for non-covered items, improved kindness, and better regional accessibility will be greater."

Analysis Suggests That Even Immediate Increase in Medical School Quotas Won't Easily Resolve Workforce Shortages

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong is delivering opening remarks at the 5th Medical Workforce Expert Committee held at Seoul City Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 17th.
Photo by Yonhap News

Some argue that even if the medical school quota is increased by more than 1,000 starting in 2025, it will be difficult to resolve the shortage of doctors by 2050, and there are calls for an increase up to 3,000.

Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, has clearly expressed his determination to push forward with expanding medical school quotas, saying, "We can no longer delay increasing the number of doctors."

On the 16th, during the opening remarks at the Medical Workforce Expert Committee of the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee, Minister Cho said, "The government is seriously aware of realities such as 'pediatric open runs' and 'emergency room rotations' occurring throughout society," adding, "There is greater public expectation and social desire than ever for increasing the number of doctors."

He also addressed the Korea Medical Association (KMA), saying, "Policy proposals from the medical community such as workforce redistribution, raising fees for essential medical services, and easing the burden of medical accidents align with the government's direction," and urged, "Since the shortage of doctors is an unavoidable reality, please present concrete and feasible alternatives for policy packages to be pursued alongside workforce expansion."

Number of Medical School Quotas by Region, Number of Doctors in Major OECD Countries
Photo by Asia Economy DB

On the 17th, Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, also called for cooperation from the medical community during a National Assembly inspection countermeasure meeting, stating, "Expanding the number of doctors is inevitable to protect the current and future health rights of the people," and emphasized, "Increasing medical school quotas through medical workforce expansion is a task that can no longer be postponed."

He pointed out, "The medical school quota has been frozen at 3,058 since 2006 for 19 years," and noted, "During that time, regional healthcare has been on the brink of collapse, and the elderly population has greatly increased, causing a surge in medical demand."

Yoon expressed hope to the KMA, saying, "This time, I hope the government and medical community can resolve issues through dialogue rather than strikes," and added, "The government and ruling party are always ready to discuss improvements in essential medical fees, easing the burden of medical accidents, and improving working conditions for residents, as requested by the medical community."

On the other hand, the medical community is strongly opposing the plan to expand medical school quotas. On the afternoon of the 17th, Lee Pil-su, president of the KMA, warned at an 'Emergency Medical Representatives Meeting' held at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, "If the government unilaterally announces the plan to increase medical school quotas, 140,000 doctors and 20,000 medical students will launch a strong struggle using all means," and cautioned, "A more unfortunate situation than the 2020 strike could occur."

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