Following Sudden Medical School Expansion Announcement... Medical Academic Societies Warn "Quality of Education Will Be Undermined"

Medical academic organizations have opposed the government's plan to rapidly increase medical school admission quotas, arguing that such a sharp increase will degrade the quality of medical education.

The National Academy of Medicine of the Republic of Korea stated on the 7th, "The Academy has consistently argued, based on research aimed at protecting public health without compromising the quality of medical education, that the medical school quota should be flexibly adjusted starting with an increase of 350 to 500 students." It added, "We are extremely surprised by the government's announcement of a large-scale increase of 65% in admission quotas."

The National Academy of Medicine is an academic organization composed of leading scholars in medical-related fields. Based on their experience and expertise, they provide advisory roles on medical education, research, and health care policy.

The Academy pointed out, "Even a 30% increase in admission quotas in the past caused significant disruption in medical education settings," and noted, "It will be impossible to prepare the necessary educators and educational facilities for the increase within just a few months." It further demanded the government to establish an independent and substantive deliberative body to restart discussions on physician workforce training from the beginning and to first prepare alternatives to ensure the quality of medical education.

The Korean Medical Association, composed of 194 medical academic organizations, also expressed concerns about the government's announcement to expand medical school quotas in a statement released the same day. The Association said, "There are medical schools lacking both basic medical science and clinical medicine professors," and added, "If the medical school increase proceeds as announced by the government, it is clear that the quality of medical education will decline."

It continued, "The side effects of the increase, such as post-graduation training measures, have not been sufficiently discussed," and argued, "It could also negatively impact resident training." Additionally, it stated, "A rapid increase in medical school admissions will lead to the influx of science and engineering personnel into the medical field, undermining the foundation of national science and technology," and pledged, "We will actively respond to the government's misguided policy by consulting the opinions of our 194 member academic societies."

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