[Reporter’s Notebook] Each Time 1,000 Medical Students Are Added, a KAIST Disappears

Whether due to the severe cold or excitement, Lee Pil-su, president of the Korean Medical Association, whose ears were red, raised his voice, saying, "The government is making a wrong judgment by trying to solve the essential medical care gap solely by increasing medical school quotas." On the afternoon of the 25th, when a cold wave below freezing swept through, the association president attended the "Rally Condemning the Hasty Promotion of Medical School Quota Increase" in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, wearing a yellow vest with protest slogans. His hair, which he shaved last November, had grown out unevenly, and he asserted, "The shortage of essential medical doctors is not due to a lack of medical school quotas."

The medical community demands that policies be implemented first to redirect doctors who flock to popular specialties, such as adjusting fees for less favored fields and providing immunity from criminal lawsuits. In fact, the number of plastic surgeons and dermatologists has surged dramatically. According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, over the past 10 years, the number of doctors working in plastic surgery clinics has doubled, and dermatology clinics have increased by 1.4 times. According to data submitted last year by Shin Hyun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, among the clinics newly opened by general practitioners in the past five years, plastic surgery and dermatology accounted for 1,258 cases. Obstetrics and gynecology accounted for only 59 cases, most of which were gynecology clinics that do not handle deliveries but only general female diseases.

The government expects a trickle-down effect from increasing medical school quotas, but the medical community refutes this as a "naive idea." Although issues like pediatric open runs and pregnant women traveling to other regions for childbirth occurred more than a decade ago, doctors, who increase by 3,058 annually (based on the national medical school quota), do not go into essential specialties that are lacking doctors.

The government's claim that there is a shortage of doctors is reasonable, and the medical community's counterclaim also has merit. Which side is correct will be confirmed starting in 2036, when the new medical students admitted next year, after increasing the quota, complete their specialist training and begin practicing. The medical community should cooperate with the government to accept an appropriate scale of medical school quota increase, and the government must introduce policies to address the neglect of less favored specialties. Only then can our medical community regain balance.

The KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) admission quota for the 2024 academic year is 990 students. Increasing the medical school quota by 1,000 means dedicating an entire freshman class of KAIST to medical schools. If the medical school quota is significantly increased without consensus between the government and the medical community, the science and engineering fields will face greater difficulties in securing talented students, and this could have adverse effects on the growth engine of our industry. Instead of pushing forward with a set deadline, careful and meticulous preparation is necessary.