Medical Association President Shaves Head... Medical School Expansion, Medical-Government Conflict on the Brink

I Pil-su "One-sided Demand Announcement for Public Opinion Play"
Medical Association Hints at General Strike... Ministry of Health and Welfare "Regret"

The conflict between the government and the Korean Medical Association (KMA) is intensifying as the KMA has announced a total strike and other strong measures in response to the government's push to increase medical school quotas. The KMA strongly opposes the government's medical school expansion demand survey, calling it a hasty survey aimed at stirring public opinion. The government expressed regret over the KMA's mention of a total strike.

On the 26th of last month, Lee Pil-su, president of the KMA, shaved his head at a joint meeting of national medical representatives and expanded executives held at the KMA headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. This was in protest against the Ministry of Health and Welfare's announcement of the results of a demand survey on increasing admission quotas conducted across medical schools nationwide. According to the survey results, 40 medical schools nationwide hope to nearly double their medical school quotas in the 2025 academic year entrance exams to be held next year.

The KMA holds the position that expanding medical school quotas will not effectively improve the current shortages in essential medical fields such as pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology.

In an interview with SBS Radio on the 28th of last month, President Lee said, "It is important to establish legal and institutional safeguards for essential medical workers and healthcare professionals, and to normalize the average fees to the level of OECD countries." He added, "In the Medical Issues Consultative Body, we asked the government whether institutional measures have been prepared to ensure that if medical school quotas are increased, the workforce can be directed to essential medical fields, but such preparations have not yet been made."

A view of a medical school in downtown Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Lee continued, "We are willing to discuss the medical school quota issue thoroughly and resolve it progressively. However, if the government unilaterally plays public opinion and announces (the medical school expansion demand survey) through the media, the problem could become serious," hinting at a total strike.

The same criticism came from the political sphere. Shin Hyun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and a former doctor, said in a KBS Radio interview, "The government needs to establish a basis for (medical school expansion). Scientific evidence is needed on how much to increase and when to reduce the numbers." She added, "Conducting a demand survey (on medical schools) without a system is like entrusting fish to a cat."

Shin also said, "Unless positive incentives are created to attract doctors to essential specialties, whether 3,000 or 4,000 doctors graduate, they will all end up in cosmetic dermatology."

On the other hand, the Ministry of Health and Welfare did not back down, stating that overcoming the crisis in essential and regional healthcare must be pursued alongside other improvement policies, including expanding medical school quotas.

The Ministry stated, "Expanding medical school quotas is a national policy related to the lives and health of not only the KMA but also patients in essential medical fields, healthcare consumers, and local residents." It added, "We express regret over the mention of a total strike that risks the lives and health of the public."

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