Half of Education Stakeholders "Sympathetic to Medical School Expansion but Realistically Impossible"

Office of Democratic Party Lawmaker Kang Deuk-gu,
Survey of Over 40,000 Education Stakeholders
"Does Not Help Resolve Manpower Shortage" 50%
"Concerns Over Private Education Concentration in Medical Schools" 71%

According to a survey, half of the education stakeholders, including parents and teachers, agree with the government's plan to increase the number of medical school admissions, but they believe it is practically impossible.

On the 19th, the office of Kang Deuk-gu, a member of the National Assembly's Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, reported that a survey conducted from the 13th to the 15th targeting 40,867 parents, teachers, and high school students found that 48.6% of respondents agreed with the plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students starting from the 2025 academic year entrance exam. Meanwhile, 43.1% responded negatively.

In protest against the government's plan to increase medical school quotas by 2,000, medical students nationwide decided on the 20th of this month to submit leave of absence applications together. The photo was taken on the 16th at a medical school in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

However, about half of the respondents thought that increasing the number of medical school admissions is practically impossible. When asked, "Do you think it is practically possible to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students starting from the 2025 academic year entrance exam?" 49.4% (20,156 people) answered "No." The proportion who answered that it is practically possible was 39.7% (16,206 people).

Additionally, about half of the respondents believed that expanding medical school admissions would not help alleviate the manpower shortage in less popular departments such as pediatrics. 50% of survey participants said that increasing medical school admissions would not help with the manpower shortage in unpopular departments, while 40.3% said it would.

Overall, 53.2% of respondents felt that there is currently a shortage of doctors in the country. This is 16.8 percentage points higher than the 36.4% who answered that there is no shortage of doctors.

Furthermore, the majority of respondents expressed concerns about the overheating of private education due to the increase in medical school admissions. 70.9% of survey respondents said that the concentration of private education would increase compared to the current situation, and 82.5% believed that the number of repeat examinees would rise.

Assemblyman Kang stated, "Expanding medical school admissions is a major decision by the government and a necessary measure for the people, but simply increasing the number of medical school admissions alone cannot resolve the current severe medical crisis. To fill the gaps in essential and regional medical services and ensure that all citizens can receive high-quality medical services anytime and anywhere, the government must present specific additional measures."

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