Doctors' American Dream?…US Medical Licensing Exam Site Crashes "This Has Never Happened Before"

US Medical License Community Blocked Due to Data Overload
Website Operator: "First Time Experiencing This Since Launch"

An online community for those preparing for the US medical licensing exam experienced a temporary access block due to traffic overload. Some analysts suggest that this may indicate that residents who resigned in protest against the government's medical school quota increase are turning their attention to overseas medical markets. Coincidentally, on the very day nationwide residents announced a work stoppage, the site access failure occurred, leading to diagnoses that doctors opposing the 2,000-person increase in medical school quotas are pessimistic about the future domestic medical environment and are looking abroad.

On the 20th, residents from the Big 5 hospitals stopped working as of 6 a.m. Residents attending the "Korean Intern Resident Association 2024 Emergency Temporary General Assembly" held at the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, are waiting for the assembly to begin.
[Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@]

At around 5 p.m. on the 21st, the US medical licensing exam community 'USMLE KOREA' announced that the site was blocked due to exceeding the number of simultaneous users. The website displayed a 'Access Blocked' notice stating, "This site has been blocked due to exceeding the allowed daily data transfer limit," and added, "The exceeded data transfer amount will be reset at midnight tonight, allowing normal access."

The 'USMLE KOREA' community is an online space where current US doctors or Koreans preparing to become US doctors gather to share information. Typically, a person who has obtained a Korean medical license must pass the 'United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE),' which is similar to Korea's 'Medical Licensing Examination,' to qualify as a specialist in the US. Afterwards, it is common to undergo a residency program in a US hospital, similar to Korea. The community is known to share USMLE reviews and preparation materials.

Regarding the site outage, some interpret that residents who submitted resignation letters are turning their interest overseas, including to the US. The medical professional media outlet Uihyeop Sinmun reported the server downtime news and conveyed the medical community's diagnosis that "young doctors dissatisfied with the government's medical school quota increase policy and essential medical policies are turning their eyes abroad."

The screen showing access blocked to the 'USMLE KOREA' website, a community for preparing for the US medical licensing exam. As of one day later, the website is accessible. [Photo by USMLE KOREA]

In particular, Joo Won Lee, developer and operator of USMLE KOREA (CEO of K-Doc US branch), told Uihyeop Sinmun, "This is the first time since the website's launch that it was blocked due to exceeding data transfer limits. I was somewhat surprised." Regarding the sudden surge in interest in the US medical licensing exam, he cautiously diagnosed, "It seems that the demand to go abroad has increased due to 'some trigger.' It appears to be deeply related to the current medical situation in Korea." He added, "If the excessive access continues, we will need to invest more in the website to increase traffic capacity, but for now, we see it as a temporary phenomenon."

A medical industry insider lamented, "The overseas departure of young medical students was already anticipated," adding, "Compared to the past, MZ generation doctors with excellent English skills seem disillusioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare's harsh policies and dream of advancing overseas." He also noted that this mass departure of residents might mark a period of future planning rather than just a simple 'leave of absence.'

Earlier, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 21st the results of inspections of 100 major training hospitals, revealing that as of 10 p.m. on the 20th, 8,816 residents, accounting for 71.2%, had submitted resignation letters. In response, the government issued work commencement orders to 6,112 residents confirmed to have left their workplaces. At the same time, it continues a tough stance, including plans for 'arrest investigations' against the leaders of the collective action.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) Emergency Response Committee criticized the government's response as "oppression at a level that has lost reason." Additionally, the Korean Intern Resident Association issued a statement the previous day demanding the full withdrawal of the four essential medical policies (expansion of medical personnel, strengthening regional medical care, establishment of a medical accident safety net, and improvement of fairness in the compensation system) and the plan to increase medical school quotas by 2,000 students.