Medical School Deans: "Increasing Medical Students by 350 is Appropriate... Communication with Government Cut Off"

"Delay the start of the semester by up to 16 days"
Meanwhile, the government insists on '2000 people' limit
Also acknowledges '2000 people hope was excessive'

Deans of medical schools nationwide have repeatedly stated that an increase of 350 students in the medical school admission quota for the 2025 academic year is appropriate.

On the afternoon of the 27th, Shin Chansu, Chairman of the Korea Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC), met with deans from 25 medical schools at Fraser Place Central in Jung-gu, Seoul, for a regular general meeting. Afterward, he told reporters, "We have reconfirmed that the number universities can immediately accommodate for the 2025 admission quota is 350."

Prior to the government’s announcement of a 2,000-student increase in medical school admissions, KAMC had stated that an appropriate increase would be around 350 students, which corresponds to the number reduced during the 2000 separation of drug prescribing and dispensing.

Chairman Shin said, "Each school’s dean is communicating with their students, but communication with the government has been cut off. For mediation to happen, the door must be open, but it is still closed." The Ministry of Education stated at a regular briefing on the 26th, "The government will not change its plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students or to accept quota applications until March 4."

Chairman Shin added, "What we can do is delay the start of the semester until around March 16 at the latest, so that students on leave do not fail."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Following the government’s announcement of the medical school quota increase, collective actions such as mass resignations by residents and alliance leaves by medical students have continued. KAMC acknowledged that each medical school submitted the quota demand survey results excessively and urged reconsideration. KAMC stated, "We acknowledge that during last year’s demand survey led by the Ministry of Education, each university (and graduate school) submitted an unreasonably high desired increase in quotas to the education authorities, considering the actual educational conditions," and demanded the withdrawal of the 2,000-student increase plan.

They also requested, "Given the current situation where medical students are taking large-scale leaves and normal academic operations have become difficult due to the recent medical school quota increase issue, social consensus on the increase is necessary," and asked to postpone the deadline for the 2025 medical school admission quota applications until after a social consensus is reached.

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