Gyeongnam Province "Welcomes Medical School Quota Expansion, Should Be at Least 250"

Increase in Medical School Quotas, Establishment of Medical School in Changwon City, and the Need for Regional Doctor System

"To expand regional and essential medical services, the increase in medical school quotas must precede and related systems must be established."

As Gyeongnam Province announced the government's plan to increase medical school quotas, the province welcomed this and urged the preparation of supportive measures.

On the 23rd, Gyeongnam Province held a briefing and stated, "We actively sympathize with and support the necessity of expanding medical school quotas to resolve regional disparities in non-metropolitan medical services," adding, "Along with quota expansion, systems such as the regional doctor system must also be established."

The province emphasized that the medical school quota should be increased from the current 76 to more than 250.

Lee Do-wan, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau, said, "We will strongly urge the government to increase the current admission quota of 76 at Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine to more than 150 and to establish a new medical school with a quota of 100 in Changwon City, expanding the total medical school quota in the province to more than 250."

"This figure was calculated considering the demand forecast for doctors in the province, fairness compared to the national average medical school quota, and the capacity of related institutions within the province," he explained.

Lee Dowan, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of Gyeongnam Province, is announcing Gyeongnam Province's future plans regarding the expansion of medical school quotas.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

According to Gyeongnam Province, the number of active doctors in the province is 5,716, which is 174.2 per 100,000 people, falling short of the national average of 218.4.

The current medical school quota per 100,000 people is 2.3, which is only 39% of the national average of 5.9 and less than the provincial average quota of 126.

Director Lee argued, "To resolve medical inequality in non-metropolitan areas, quotas must be expanded mainly in local medical schools, and the selection of local talents must be strengthened."

"At the same time, a series of processes must be completed, such as introducing the regional doctor system, which selects students on the condition that they work for 10 years in critical and essential medical fields such as internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology within the region," he added.

Gyeongnam Province expects that it will take at least 10 years from the expansion of medical school quotas until doctors are produced, and to minimize medical gaps, it announced plans to promote ▲ expansion of 24-hour regional emergency medical centers ▲ support for pediatric care specialists ▲ expansion of residents in training hospitals.

The province also emphasized the necessity of establishing a medical school in Changwon City, the only non-metropolitan city with a population of one million that lacks medical-related universities such as medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and Korean medicine colleges, and plans to continue promoting its establishment.

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