[Fact Check] Is the Concern Over 'Doctor Shortage' True? Are Saenuri Party Lawmakers Really Pushing for a Public Medical School?

Representative Lee Jung-hyun's 2015 Bill, All 48 Co-sponsors Including Joo Ho-young from Saenuri Party... "Supply Shortage Due to Concentration of Medical Personnel in the Capital Area"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "The Public Medical School Act was co-proposed by Saenuri Party members in 2015." On the 2nd, Moon Jin-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said this at the National Assembly Steering Committee. The issue of establishing a public medical school, which has been pointed out as the cause of the doctors' strike, was a matter promoted by the ruling party (Saenuri Party) members during the Park Geun-hye administration.

In fact, the establishment of a public medical school as a solution to the shortage of doctors is not a new discussion this year. Lee Jung-hyun, then a Saenuri Party member, proposed the "Act on the Establishment and Operation of the National Health and Medical University and the National Health and Medical University Hospital" on May 19, 2015. The bill had 48 co-proposers, all of whom belonged to the Saenuri Party.

A bill requires the participation of more than 10 members to be proposed, and the participation of as many as 48 members indicates that it was a strongly supported bill. The bill included participation from senior Saenuri Party members such as Joo Ho-young (current floor leader of the People Power Party), Kim Sung-tae, and Shim Jae-cheol (former floor leaders).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Jung-hyun explained the reason for proposing the bill as "the concentration of medical personnel in the metropolitan area, the worsening avoidance of working in medically vulnerable areas, and the decrease in public health medical personnel due to the increasing proportion of female students in medical schools." The bill aimed to solve the doctor shortage problem through the establishment of the National Health and Medical University and the National Health and Medical University Hospital.

According to the bill, the course duration was six years, and students were required to receive theoretical and practical education specialized in public and military medicine. It included a groundbreaking provision that fully supported costs such as entrance fees and tuition by exempting them on the condition that graduates work in public health medical institutions for 10 years.

The law, which stated the necessity of establishing a public medical school to support medically vulnerable areas and exempted students' tuition fees on the condition of working for 10 years, was submitted to the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee on November 9, 2015, and underwent a review process.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In particular, the Health and Welfare Committee evaluated in its review report that "under the recognition of the problem that regional imbalance and the shortage of doctors in the public medical sector are worsening, the current doctor supply system has limitations," and "the legislative intent is reasonable."

The Ministry of Health and Welfare under the Park Geun-hye administration also expressed a positive view. The ministry judged that "a separate training method for specialized personnel is necessary to provide stable high-quality medical services in vulnerable areas." The Ministry of Education also stated, "A shortage of doctors will occur from 2024," and "a thorough review with related ministries on the establishment of medical schools is necessary."

On the other hand, the Korean Medical Association opposed the establishment of a public medical school, stating that "it is more efficient to improve the education and training process of existing national medical schools and national university hospitals and utilize public health scholarship systems."

The bill was submitted to the standing committee (Health and Welfare Committee) and entered the discussion process but was discarded with the expiration of the 19th National Assembly's term on May 29, 2016. Although the bill led by Saenuri Party members did not pass the plenary session of the National Assembly, it resulted in bringing the issue of establishing a public medical school into public discourse.