Training Physician-Scientists, Blocked by 'Doctor's Job Security,' Struggling to Get Started

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] As the need for physician-scientists with clinical experience and research and development (R&D) capabilities grows to respond to infectious diseases and revitalize the bio industry, institutions such as KAIST and POSTECH are moving to establish specialized training centers. However, it is expected to face difficulties even before starting due to the major obstacle of ‘expanding the number of medical school seats.’

According to the scientific community on the 17th, as the government and science and technology specialized universities begin serious discussions on establishing specialized education institutions for training physician-scientists, signs of conflict over ‘turf wars’ are emerging. Since physician-scientists are ultimately ‘doctors,’ expanding medical school quotas is necessary to train more physician-scientists. However, organizations such as the Korean Medical Association are strongly opposed to expanding medical school quotas. They argue that considering the declining population, by 2024, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in Korea will exceed the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Doctors agree with the training of physician-scientists itself but insist that ‘environmental improvements’ should come first. They argue that rather than expanding quotas or establishing specialized training institutions, improvements in treatment and infrastructure for physician-scientists are needed. In particular, some doctors have already shown active opposition by making protest calls to those advocating for the establishment of specialized training institutions for physician-scientists. Regarding this, Park Soo-hyun, spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, said, “Efforts to train doctors who conduct basic science research have continued, but ultimately they all end up in clinical practice,” and added, “I believe that providing doctors with merits to focus on research and establishing infrastructure should come first.”

Accordingly, some expect that future discussions on training physician-scientists may proceed through converting existing medical schools into specialized institutions, revising curricula, strengthening scholarship systems and research funds, rather than through socially sensitive measures such as expanding medical school quotas.

Meanwhile, KAIST and others are actively moving forward, publicly announcing plans to establish specialized training institutions. On the 15th, KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee publicly declared at an online press conference that he would push for the establishment of an 8-year integrated graduate school of science, technology, and medicine. POSTECH is also actively promoting this together with local governments, citing the absence of large hospitals in the region as a reason, and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology are doing the same.