"Losing Motivation to Study, Leaving School"…Medical Student on Leave Appeals

"Medical Students Left School After Losing Motivation to Study"
"Korean Healthcare Is Failing and Collapsing"
"Minister of Education, Come to the Field and Study First"

Kim Chang-min, president of the student council at Konkuk University College of Medicine and Medical School, is announcing a statement regarding the medical crisis in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 14th. [Source=Yonhap News]

A student who took a leave of absence in opposition to the government's medical school expansion policy expressed his opinion at a press conference.

Kim Chang-min, president of the student council at Konkuk University College of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, held a press conference on the morning of the 14th in front of the War Memorial in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging the normalization of medical education. This is the first time a medical student representative has individually held a one-person protest and press conference. Kim stated, "The government pushed forward the medical school expansion hastily without any basis. As a student, I expressed my opposition by submitting a leave of absence, which was the best and last card I had, but after listening to the briefing by the Minister of Education on the 6th, I decided that I should no longer remain silent and instead come forward to raise my voice."

He argued, "Minister of Education (Lee Ju-ho) threatened us by saying that if students do not return next year, they will be held back or expelled, conditional on approving the leave of absence. He also said that due to concerns about the supply of doctors next year, the six-year medical education curriculum would be shortened to five years. Without any experience in medical education, they are degrading the quality of medical education through a makeshift and theoretical approach," adding, "Medical students lost motivation to study because they saw the quality of medical education deteriorating wildly and doubted whether they could be of help to patients and the public, which is why they left school."

In response to a question about "what must be done for medical students to return to school," he replied, "The Minister of Education seems to have no knowledge of medical education and simply thinks that producing doctors and having them train in hospitals is enough to become a doctor. I believe that when making education policies, they should visit the field at least once to study what quality medical education truly is." He continued, "I wonder if the President will push this policy through for the entire three years of his term. Medical care and human life are never a matter of time. The medical system in the Republic of Korea is collapsing and falling apart," he appealed. Finally, he requested an apology from the minister, saying, "Healing the wounded hearts is the most difficult. The first step is an apology from the Minister of Education. A sincere apology would at least somewhat heal the students' feelings."