Expecting Expansion of 10,000 Medical Personnel by 2035
The government has decided to increase the medical school quota, which had been frozen at 3,058 since 2006, by 2,000 starting from the 2025 academic year, expanding the total to 5,058.
On the 6th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the first Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee (HMPDC) meeting of 2024 at the Government Seoul Office and announced this plan.
At a briefing held after the HMPDC meeting, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong said, "The scale of the medical school quota increase was decided based on supply and demand forecasts for 2035, ten years from now," adding, "To secure the number of doctors working in medically underserved areas to the national average level, about 5,000 doctors are needed. Considering the increasing medical demand due to rapid aging, it is projected that there will be a shortage of about 10,000 doctors by 2035."
Minister Cho stated, "Out of the demand for 15,000 doctors, we aim to expand the medical workforce by 10,000 by 2035," and added, "Starting from the 2025 academic year, the medical school quota will be increased by 2,000, expanding from the current 3,058 to 5,058." He explained that with an additional 2,000 students admitted from next year, the increased number of doctors will begin to graduate from 2031, leading to a maximum expansion of 10,000 doctors by 2035.
The government plans to periodically review and adjust the supply and demand of medical personnel.
Minister Cho said, "We will manage supply and demand rationally by comprehensively considering changes in the medical environment such as aging trends, infectious disease situations, medical technology development trends, and the public’s medical usage conditions."
The medical school quota was reduced by 351 in 2000 during the separation of prescribing and dispensing functions in the medical field, following demands from the medical community, and has been fixed at 3,058 since 2006. The government has been pushing to increase the medical school quota, pointing to the shortage of doctors as a major cause of regional and essential medical crises. At a public discussion chaired by President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 1st, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced plans to expand medical school admissions starting next year, considering that the shortage of doctors will reach about 15,000 by 2035.
The allocation of the increased medical school admissions by university will be determined under the principle of "focusing allocation mainly on non-metropolitan medical schools," taking into account each university’s submitted demand, educational capacity, the need to strengthen the educational capacity of small medical schools, and the need to support regional healthcare from multiple perspectives.
In particular, it is planned that more than 60% of admissions to non-metropolitan medical schools will be filled through regional talent selection. The university-specific admission quotas for next year will be announced later after going through the Ministry of Education’s quota allocation procedures.
Minister Cho said, "It is thanks to the high interest and support of the public that we can responsibly carry out this task, which has not been accomplished for 19 years," and added, "We will pursue policies with the people as our sole focus."
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