Medical School Deans Reconfirm "350 Medical School Expansion Appropriate"

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The association of deans from 40 medical schools nationwide stated that the acceptable scale of medical school expansion is 350 students.

The Korea Association of Medical Colleges and Medical Schools (KAMC) held its regular general meeting on the afternoon of the 27th at Fraser Place Central in Jung-gu, Seoul, to discuss current medical issues including the expansion of medical schools.

The meeting lasted about three hours with 25 medical school deans attending from across the country, during which the deans reaffirmed that the scale of medical school expansion that universities can accommodate is 350 students.

Shin Chansu, chairman of KAMC (professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine), said after the meeting, "The deans confirmed once again that the acceptable expansion scale for the 2025 academic year admissions is 350 students."

KAMC had stated even before the government announced the plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 students that an appropriate expansion scale would be around 350 students, which corresponds to the reduction made during the 2000 separation of drug prescribing and dispensing.

Chairman Shin said, "Each school dean communicates with their students, but communication with the government has been cut off," adding, "For mediation to happen, the door must be open, but it is still closed." He further added, "What we can do is to delay the start of the semester until around March 16 at the latest, so that students who have taken a leave of absence do not fail."

According to the Ministry of Education, as of the previous day, more than 13,000 medical students have applied for leave of absence in protest against the government's medical school expansion policy. This accounts for about 70.2% of all enrolled medical students nationwide.

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