"Will It Fill Gaps in Regional and Essential Healthcare?"... 'Regional Doctor System' Passes National Assembly Health Committee

Possible Implementation from the 2027 Medical School Admissions Cycle
Government and Ruling Party Expect to "Resolve Imbalances in Medical Workforce Supply and Demand"
Medical Community Pushes Back, Saying "Compensation System Reflecting Realities Must Be Introduced"

With the regional doctor system bill gaining momentum, it is expected that a special admissions track for selecting regional doctors will be introduced as early as the 2027 academic year. This system, which requires doctors to work in designated regions for 10 years after obtaining their medical licenses, is drawing attention as a possible solution to the chronic concentration of medical personnel in the Seoul metropolitan area and the resulting gaps in regional and essential medical services.

Jung Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, attended the full meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee held at the National Assembly on the 20th, observing the bill submission process. Photo by Yonhap News

The "Act on the Training and Support of Regional Doctors," which passed the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee on the 20th, stipulates that a portion of new medical school students will be selected separately. These students will receive full support for tuition, textbooks, and dormitory fees, and will be required to work in designated regions for 10 years after graduation.

If the mandatory service is not fulfilled, the Minister of Health and Welfare may suspend the doctor's license for up to one year following a corrective order. If the license is suspended three or more times, the medical license is revoked.

As the concentration of medical personnel in large hospitals in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area continues, patients in medically underserved regions are unable to receive timely care. This has led to ongoing discussions about introducing a regional doctor system. In 2020, the Moon Jae-in administration attempted to increase the number of medical students by 4,000 over 10 years and introduce the regional doctor system, but this plan was scrapped due to fierce opposition from the medical community. In 2023, the Democratic Party, then the opposition, led the passage of the regional doctor system bill through the standing committee, but the Yoon Suk-yeol administration at the time only pursued an increase of 2,000 medical school seats, excluding the regional doctor system. As a result, severe conflicts between the government and the medical community persisted from February last year to August this year. President Lee Jaemyung, who had pledged to introduce the regional doctor system during his candidacy, has since included it as a national policy and pushed for its implementation.

If the bill passed by the standing committee is approved by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session, it will take effect two months after promulgation and could be applied to the next university admissions cycle. The percentage of medical school seats to be allocated to the regional doctor admissions track will be determined later by an enforcement ordinance. The bill specifies that this decision will consider factors such as the number of medical institutions in each city and province, the number of medical personnel shortages, the distribution of medically underserved areas, the regional distribution of universities, and the results of the Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee. Accordingly, after the committee's discussions conclude next month, and as the outline of medical school quotas for the 2027 academic year and beyond becomes clear early next year, the scale of regional doctor training will also be determined.

The government and the ruling party believe that the introduction of the regional doctor system will help alleviate regional disparities in medical services to some extent. At the Health and Welfare Committee plenary meeting on this day, Minister of Health and Welfare Jung Eunkyung stated, "If this law is enacted, it will enable the continuous and stable training and retention of regional medical personnel and lay the foundation for resolving imbalances in the supply and demand of medical personnel and disparities in regional healthcare." Park Joomin, Chair of the Health and Welfare Committee, said, "Regions are suffering greatly from a shortage of medical personnel, which is why the regional doctor system is considered a core bill for medical reform. With the passage of this bill, we expect that the difficulties caused by the shortage of medical personnel in the regions will be resolved in the future."

On the other hand, the medical community argues that mandatory service alone cannot solve regional healthcare issues. They insist that establishing a medical delivery system and improving conditions for doctors to settle in these regions must come first. The Korean Medical Association stated at a briefing on this day, "It is difficult to guarantee the effectiveness of the regional doctor system when the estimates for regional medical personnel and the realities of local hospitals and clinics are not reflected. The introduction of compensation systems, such as regional policy fees, is necessary to improve the challenging medical environment in these areas, and substantial investment must precede so that patients can trust regional healthcare. Only then will regional healthcare be revitalized."

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