Lee Ju-ho tells medical school deans "Unjustified leave of absence will be rejected"... 361 applied yesterday

Video Conference with Presidents of 40 Medical Schools on the 22nd
Ministry of Education Requests Universities to Submit "Demand for Improvement of Educational Conditions"
Jeonui Association Requests Transparency of Allocation Committee

As the government confirmed the increase of 2,000 medical school admissions, it urged each university to take measures such as rejecting unjustified leave of absence applications to ensure medical students return to their studies. The number of medical school leave applications deemed 'valid leave applications' by the Ministry of Education is approaching half of all medical students. Medical school professors have opposed the allocation of quotas by university and have taken legal action.

On the 22nd, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, held a video conference with the presidents of 40 universities operating medical schools to request normal academic operations and discuss plans to improve medical education conditions.

On the 22nd, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, held a video conference with the presidents of 40 universities nationwide that operate medical schools at the Seoul Government Complex. Photo by Ministry of Education

The Deputy Prime Minister asked medical students who have refused classes or are on leave since the 20th of last month, as well as medical school professors who have announced a collective resignation on the 25th, to stop their collective actions. He told university presidents, "Even if the formal requirements for leave of absence are met, please thoroughly review the substantive reasons for the leave, and if judged to be unjustified, reject or return the application to encourage students to return."

According to the Ministry of Education on that day, a survey of 40 medical schools nationwide showed that the number of 'valid leave applications' in one day as of the previous day was 361 cases from 8 universities. Class refusals were also confirmed at 8 universities. The cumulative number of valid leave applications reached 8,951 cases. This corresponds to about 47.6% of the 18,793 enrolled medical students nationwide as of April last year. The Ministry of Education stated, "While requesting strict academic management from universities, we repeatedly urged that permission for the collective action called 'alliance leave' should not be granted."

Furthermore, at the meeting that day, the Ministry of Education requested each university to prepare plans to improve educational conditions following the increase in university quotas and to submit government support demands accordingly. The Deputy Prime Minister said, "Since the scale of increase and current conditions differ by university, I believe each university has different views on how many faculty members, facilities, equipment, and supplies need to be expanded. Please prepare plans to improve educational conditions by university and let us hear the voices from the field regarding where government support is needed."

Medical school professors are opposing not only the 'increase' itself but also the allocation by university. The Korea Association of Medical School Professors (KAMSP), which includes 39 medical schools nationwide, plans to submit a request for clarification to the Seoul Administrative Court on the morning of the same day. The request focuses on the disclosure of the list of members, minutes, and reports of the allocation committee related to the regional and university-specific decisions on the increase of medical school admissions decided by Minister Lee.

At a press conference the day before, KAMSP announced that from the 25th, medical school professors would reduce their outpatient care, surgery, and inpatient care working hours to the legal working hours of 52 hours per week. This is due to concerns that if professors force treatment despite mental and physical stress caused by being on duty two to three times a week, it could harm patients.

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