Seoul National University Professors' Council: "Government's Medical School Expansion Policy Must Be Revised... Causes Medical Regression"

Emergency Proposal Announcement on the 26th

The Seoul National University Professors' Association (SNUPA) has expressed the position that the government's policy aiming to increase medical school quotas by 10,000 over five years should be supplemented in accordance with the medical reform situation.

On the 15th, as the Emergency Response Committee of medical school professors from 19 universities is expected to decide on whether to resign, a poster condemning Professor Kim Yoon, who supports the increase in medical school admissions, is posted on the Seoul National University College of Medicine building.
Photo by Heo Young-han

On the 26th, SNUPA stated in an urgent proposal, "As a result of the government's sudden policy to increase medical school quotas being announced without consensus from the medical community, residents have left patients' sides and students have left universities," adding, "If students do not return by the end of April, collective failure to advance is inevitable, and from next year, each medical school will face the challenge of teaching more than double their usual number of students."

They continued, "A rapid expansion of medical school quotas could lead to the long-term regression of Korean medicine and undermine the government's policy of no-major admission aimed at fostering science and engineering fields and enhancing students' freedom of choice."

SNUPA proposed four measures to the government and the medical community to facilitate the return of residents and medical students: ▲ take all necessary actions to allow residents and students to focus on medical practice and studies ▲ supplement the policy of increasing medical school quotas by 10,000 over five years alongside medical reform ▲ establish a separate consultative body for education and admissions reform apart from medical-related consultative bodies ▲ once the quota increase issue is resolved, promptly initiate reforms in early childhood and youth education, admissions, and higher education innovation.

Im Jeong-mook, president of the Seoul National University Professors' Association, explained, "The necessary scale of medical school quotas can be adjusted according to the medical reform situation, such as telemedicine," adding, "The intention is that the government should supplement the policy in line with medical reform rather than being bound to increasing quotas by 2,000 annually for five years totaling 10,000."

He emphasized, "For the exhausted public, anxious patients, and parents worried about their children's education, we must now focus on preventing side effects and confusion caused by the rapid increase in medical school quotas."

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