[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government will proceed with the practical exam of the medical licensing examination as scheduled starting from the 8th, targeting fourth-year medical students. To obtain a medical license, candidates must pass both the practical and written parts of the medical licensing exam, and if they do not take the practical exam this time, they will have to wait another year.
According to the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute, this year’s practical exam will be held from today until November 20 at the main building of the institute in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Medical students have refused to take the exam in protest against the expansion of medical school quotas and the establishment of public medical schools. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, only 446 out of 3,172 candidates eligible for the practical exam, about 14%, have taken the test so far. Approximately 3,000 doctors graduate annually through the national exam, most of whom are hired as interns at over 200 large hospitals to begin their specialist training.
◆ What kind of questions appear? = The practical exam consists of a total of 12 tasks, including a simple skill assessment (OSCE) using mannequins to check basic techniques and a clinical performance exam (CPX) where candidates directly examine trained patients. In the CPX, candidates ask symptoms to standardized patients (actors trained for 30 hours), perform physical examinations, and make diagnoses. The OSCE tests basic medical skills such as suturing wounds, administering injections, and applying bandages on patient models.
◆ How is it conducted? = The main building of the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute, where the practical exam is held, has 12 rooms. Candidates move from room to room to solve each task. Each room takes about 10 minutes on average, and the entire exam lasts approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. Professors and actors playing patient roles score the candidates.
◆ What is the pass rate? = The pass rate for the medical licensing practical exam generally exceeds 95%. According to the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute, the pass rate for the 84th medical licensing practical exam held in 2020 was 97.0%. Out of 3,189 candidates, 3,093 passed. Previous exams also recorded high pass rates: 95.6% in 2019 (83rd), 95.8% in 2018 (82nd), and 96.4% in 2017 (81st).
◆ Is this the first time for exam refusal? = Medical students also collectively refused to take the national exam in 2000. At that time, the medical community opposed the government’s medical separation policy and even went on a general strike, with medical students supporting the movement. About 90% of candidates almost failed to take the exam, but it was held a month later than scheduled following an agreement between the government and the medical community. Since this was before the introduction of the practical exam, only the written exam was held, so there was no confusion due to the postponement.
Medical students have also boycotted classes in the past. In March 1996, fourth-year medical students protested the national exam’s failure rate reaching 30%, saying, "Compared to the usual 10% failure rate, this is unacceptable. The exam questions have lost fairness and objectivity due to interference by established doctors concerned about oversupply of medical personnel," and demanded additional exams.
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