Mandatory Establishment of Medical School in Changwon Special City ... Forum Held

Co-hosted by Local Members of Parliament, Gyeongnam, and Changwon

Amid strong public opinion that a medical school must be established in Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, a National Assembly forum for the nationwide public discussion on the “Necessity of Establishing a Medical School in Changwon Special City” was held on the afternoon of the 27th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Meeting Room 2.

The forum was co-hosted by National Assembly members Kim Young-sun, Kang Ki-yoon, Yoon Han-hong, Lee Dal-gon, and Choi Hyung-doo, along with Gyeongsangnam-do Province and Changwon Special City. It was jointly organized by the province, city, the Gyeongnam Public Health Medical Support Group, and the Changwon Special City Medical School Attraction Citizens’ Promotion Committee.

A National Assembly forum was held in the Second Conference Room of the Members' Office Building to publicly discuss the necessity of establishing a medical school in Changwon Special City.

The forum began with the reading of a resolution by the attendees and a hand-held placard performance featuring slogans such as “Attract Changwon Medical School” and “The Wish of 1.04 Million Citizens.” About 200 participants, including experts from various fields and citizens of Changwon, attended. Due to the large number of attendees, some had to stand while listening, demonstrating the high level of interest in establishing a medical school in Changwon.

The first presenter, Kim Young-soo, Director of Public Health Projects at Changwon Gyeongsang National University Hospital, presented the results of the “Gyeongsangnam-do Physician Workforce Projection Study,” proposing “short- and long-term measures” including building a physician workforce database within Gyeongnam Province and improving working conditions to secure medical personnel.

In the second presentation, Professor Lim Joon from the Graduate School of Urban Health at the University of Seoul introduced the case of Japan’s autonomous medical schools, stating, “There is a demand for training medical personnel who will handle essential regional healthcare and enhance the region’s public health medical capacity,” and continued with the topic “The Necessity and Policy Measures for Establishing a Medical School in Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam.”

Following this, a designated discussion on the “Necessity of Establishing a Medical School in Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam” was held, chaired by Jeong Baek-geun, Director of the Gyeongnam Public Health Medical Support Group.

In the discussion, Ha Chung-sik, Chairman of Changwon Hanmaeum Hospital, said, “We are fully prepared to establish a medical school and can operate it immediately without spending a single penny of taxpayers’ money,” raising his voice, “By establishing a medical school, local talents will be able to benefit from the regional quota system for medical schools.”

Lee Ja-seong, Director of the Social and Cultural Research Office at the Changwon City Research Institute, emphasized, “The establishment of a medical school in Changwon will be a great opportunity to improve educational standards and attract young populations, and along with training medical personnel, it will create enormous synergy effects for the existing medical industry and related industries.”

Park Young-ho, Director of Planning at National Changwon University, stated, “The fundamental cause of the shortage of doctors in essential medical fields is medical policies left to market logic,” and expressed the opinion that “expanding medical school quotas to secure doctors and implementing medical policies guaranteed with public interest are essential to solve regional medical problems.”

Song Yang-su, Director of Medical Workforce Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained the current status and future plans regarding the government’s expansion of medical school quotas to strengthen essential medical services and resolve regional medical imbalances.

Hong Nam-pyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, said, “By attracting a medical school, we will raise the level of regional medical services, prevent the outflow of local talents, attract excellent external talents, and foster the medical and bio industries,” adding, “I hope the solutions derived together today will become a strong lifeline to successfully establish the medical school in Changwon Special City, which is the wish of 1.04 million citizens and a 30-year-long aspiration.”

Earlier, on the 13th, the “Changwon Medical School Attraction Citizens’ Promotion Committee,” composed of 180 representatives from various sectors, was launched, and the “1 Million Citizens, 1 Million Signature Campaign” is also underway.