"Residents Unwilling to Work in Korea Preparing for Foreign Medical Exams... Talent Drain"

"Government Should Lift Legal Actions Against Medical Residents and Engage in Dialogue"
"All Big 5 Hospitals Are in Seoul... Provincial Medical Students Will Also Come to Seoul"

Bang Jae-seung, Emergency Response Committee Chairperson of the National Association of Medical School Professors, expressed concern over the government's official announcement of the 2025 medical school student quota, which increased by 2,000 students despite opposition from the medical community. He stated, "Many residents do not want to practice medicine in Korea and are preparing for medical licensing exams in the United States, Singapore, and other countries," calling it a "national brain drain."

On the 21st, during MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focused View,' Chairperson Bang said, "The fact that talented individuals in science and engineering are moving into medicine is already a loss to our country's national competitiveness. If these individuals apply to become doctors in other countries and treat foreign patients, how disheartening would that be?" He added, "We need to quickly create a platform for dialogue to bring residents back," emphasizing, "The government must lift judicial measures against residents and initiate talks."

On the morning of the 19th, a medical official was moving inside a large hospital in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The day before, the government announced the next year's admission quotas for 40 medical schools nationwide, allocating 82% (1,639 students) of the 2,000 additional spots to regional medical schools and 18% (361 students) to medical schools in the Gyeongin area. No additional spots were assigned to medical schools in the Seoul area. Regarding this, Chairperson Bang argued, "This will cause serious problems in the future residency training process." He explained, "Realistically, the so-called Big 5 large hospitals are the main centers for training, but 80% of the quota increase was concentrated in regional medical schools," adding, "Students from regional medical schools will ultimately come to the metropolitan area, Seoul, to receive residency training."

He continued, "In regional areas, the number of patients is continuously decreasing, and the local medical system is not well activated," stating, "If you want to serve and fulfill your purpose in regional areas, appropriate facilities and patients must be in place. Can we just establish medical schools while the regional population is disappearing?"

Chairperson Bang also expressed doubts about the feasibility of handling the increased quota in educational settings. He said, "The number of medical students is increasing fourfold, and they need to go out for practical training, not just attend lectures in classrooms," criticizing, "This means hospital capacity must increase three to four times, but realistically, where will the funding come from and where will the faculty be recruited?" He added, "I have conveyed these concerns to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but both the Prime Minister and ministry officials said, 'We will come up with measures.'"

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