National Medical Schools Hope to Expand Medical Student Quotas by Up to 4,000... More Than Double the Current Quota

Government's 'Medical School Quota Expansion Demand Survey' Results
Up to 3,953 Additional Students Desired by 2030

Medical Associations Opposing Hold Emergency Press Conference

The results of the medical school admission quota demand survey, which had been postponed twice, have finally been released. Medical schools nationwide hope to increase their quotas by up to around 4,000 students by 2030. This is more than double the current medical school quota, which has been fixed at 3,058 for 18 years. The government is preparing to determine the actual medical school quota size after verifying the capabilities of the medical schools based on these desired quota results. There is a possibility of escalating conflicts with the medical community, which had expressed discomfort over the government's demand survey.

Jeon Byeong-wang, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is announcing the results of a nationwide survey on the demand for increasing admission quotas at 40 medical schools across the country on the 21st at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

On the 21st, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the results of the demand survey for quota increases requested by 40 medical schools nationwide. Due to the acceleration of regional and essential medical service collapse and the impact of population aging, the Ministry is promoting a phased expansion of medical school quotas starting from the 2025 university admissions. To this end, the Ministry asked medical schools nationwide by the 9th for their desired medical school quota sizes for each year from 2025 to 2030 during a two-week period. This announcement came after two postponements of the demand survey results.

According to the survey results, the 40 medical schools nationwide indicated a minimum demand of 2,151 and a maximum demand of 2,847 additional students for the first year of quota expansion in 2025. The minimum demand refers to the scale that each university can increase based on current faculty, facilities, and educational capacity, while the maximum demand is the scale that medical schools can accommodate if additional educational conditions are secured. By 2030, the sixth consecutive year of increases, the desired quota expansion ranged from a minimum of 2,738 to a maximum of 3,953 students.

Medical School [Image source=Yonhap News]

If the demand results are realized, the medical school quota in 2030 could reach 7,011 students, more than double the current quota. However, since these results reflect the desired quotas of the medical schools, there may be differences from the actual increase scale. Nevertheless, as government officials and related experts begin to assess based on the demand survey results, it cannot be dismissed as lacking credibility. An expert diagnosis also stated, “There is currently a shortage of 10,000 doctors” (Kim Yoon, Professor of Medical Management at Seoul National University).

The actual increase scale will be finalized after review by the government’s medical education inspection team. Jeon Byung-wang, head of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s medical education inspection team, commented on the significance of this survey result, saying, “It shows the possibility that each medical school can expand to more than twice the current quota of 3,058 if additional investment is made.” The Ministry plans to finalize the 2025 medical school admission quota by April next year at the latest.

This demand survey result is analyzed as potentially becoming a “pressure card” against the medical community by various demand groups calling for an increase in medical school quotas.

Conflicts between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and medical associations over the issue of expanding medical school quotas are expected to continue for the time being. Following the government’s announcement of the demand survey results, the Korean Medical Association plans to hold an emergency press conference attended by Chairman Lee Pil-su to continue its offensive opposing the quota expansion. A KMA official stated, “We are prepared to engage in struggles comparable to the 2020 resident doctors’ general strike.”