KMA: "Expanding Medical Workforce Requires Accurate Analysis First... Public Medical School Absolutely Not Allowed"

Sharing the Results of the Legislative Consultation Meeting with Members

As the government and the medical community prepare to engage in full-scale discussions on expanding the number of medical school admissions and other measures to increase medical personnel, the Korea Medical Association (KMA) has reportedly presented accurate future demand analysis, objective post-evaluation, and improvements in resident training and working conditions as prerequisites for the discussions. Separately from increasing medical school admissions, the KMA reaffirmed its "absolute opposition" principle regarding the establishment of public medical schools.

Exterior view of the Korean Medical Association headquarters in Ichon-dong. [Photo by Korean Medical Association]

On the 9th, the KMA shared the results of the medical-government consultation meeting held the previous day through a letter sent to its members, stating this position. The KMA said, "Discussions continued on the 'essential medical care and regional medical care measures,' where many problems have recently arisen and the rate of collapse is accelerating," and added, "We presented the opinion that fundamental solutions are needed to create a stable medical environment where excellent medical personnel can voluntarily enter and be attracted to essential and regional medical fields, such as enacting the Essential Medical Accident Handling Special Act and providing appropriate compensation for avoidance areas."

The KMA emphasized that when discussing the expansion of medical personnel, an accurate analysis of the current situation and future demand for medical personnel must come first, and concrete implementation plans must be prepared simultaneously to ensure that the expanded workforce can be channeled into essential and regional medical care. They also demanded the establishment of a stable environment for providing essential and regional medical care through objective post-evaluation and system readjustment, enactment of the Essential Medical Accident Handling Special Act, and substantial compensation.

Furthermore, the KMA conveyed to the government that improvement plans for resident training and working conditions, establishment of a medical delivery system including restrictions on branch hospitals of metropolitan university hospitals, and measures to address various side effects such as the concentration of medical students in certain schools ("medical school clustering"), problems in science and engineering fields, and deterioration of health insurance finances due to rising medical costs must also be prerequisites. In particular, they reiterated opposition to the establishment of public medical schools, which is often mentioned in conjunction with increasing medical school admissions. The KMA firmly stated, "Discussions on increasing personnel through the establishment of new medical schools such as public medical schools, which can cause various side effects and social conflicts, are absolutely not allowed."

The KMA said, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare agreed with the prerequisites proposed by our association and responded that they will review them together and strive to reflect them in the system," adding, "It is expected that intense discussions will continue to prepare measures to revive essential and regional medical care." They also asked their members to "continue their unwavering interest and ongoing support so that rational and desirable medical systems and policies for the health of the people and the future of Korea’s medical care can be established."