Ahn Cheol-soo: "The process of increasing medical school admissions resembles secretive administration typical of a dictatorship... The government must admit its mistakes even now"

Scientific Decision Behind Medical School Quota Expansion?…Reality Is the Opposite
Support Medical Schools, but Government's Decision Process Loses Legitimacy
Now, Postpone Quota Increase for 1 Year and Establish a Concrete Plan

On the 20th, Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, stated regarding the controversy over increasing medical school admissions, "We must honestly acknowledge our mistakes." Ahn, who supports increasing the number of doctors, warned that "if this continues, the affordable and high-quality Korean medical system will no longer be found."

On the same day, through social media (SNS), Ahn introduced that "the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency predicted that the number of COVID-19 patients would rise to around 350,000 in the last week of August, just before the new school term," and expressed his thoughts, saying, "After watching the National Assembly hearing on medical school education inspection on the 16th, it is overwhelming to see how to prevent medical collapse beyond just responding to the COVID-19 resurgence and medical crisis."

Ahn, who said, "I also agree with increasing medical school admissions," pointed out that the government's policy process was filled with reckless moves.

Regarding the decision to expand medical school quotas, he said, "Until now, the government claimed that the policy decision to increase medical school admissions was scientifically determined to address the shortage of essential and regional medical doctors," but "the reality was the exact opposite. The allocation committee that decided the scale of medical school admissions by university was unknown in terms of participants and the basis for allocation was also unclear," criticizing the process. He added, "This is a secretive administration that one would only expect in a dictatorship," and said, "The legitimacy of increasing medical school admissions and medical reform is collapsing from the root."

Ahn pointed out, "It became clear that the 'blind increase' lacked preparation and plans for securing faculty, facilities, and infrastructure, which are core to education," and criticized, "There was no consideration on how to prevent the current medical students who are refusing classes from repeating a year and how to properly educate them."

He also noted that the issue of managing doctors worsened as medical education came to a halt due to the series of incidents. He said, "If the repetition of medical students becomes a reality, the government only gave a general response of 'we will prepare well' regarding how to teach the combined 7,500 students, including 4,500 newly admitted students next year and 3,000 repeating students." He continued, "If fourth-year medical students do not take the medical licensing exam and no doctors emerge, there is no plan for interns, public health doctors, or military doctors," and criticized, "Even though residents are not returning and specialists are not being produced, the government only has an unrealistic plan to create specialist hospitals."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding the series of causes, he evaluated, "Instead of starting with structural reforms such as legal improvements to fix essential and regional medical issues and adjusting medical fees, the government unilaterally pushed the figure of increasing 2,000 students as if it were the entirety of medical reform, which became the cause of worsening the medical crisis."

Ahn described the current situation in the medical community as a "silent collapse." Introducing resignations of professors from regional national university medical schools, he said, "The increase in medical school admissions, which was promoted to revive essential and regional medical care, is producing the exact opposite result."

As a solution to prevent catastrophe, he said, "To have medical students and residents return and prevent further catastrophe, the government must first honestly acknowledge its mistakes in the process of increasing medical school admissions," and added, "While agreeing to increase medical school admissions, there should be a one-year delay, and a public deliberation committee composed of the government, medical community, and experts should establish a concrete plan." He warned, "Without government reflection and determination, it will be impossible to avoid the collapse of Korea's world-class medical system, which has been built up over decades."

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