Medical School Professors Urge Government to Engage in Dialogue... Call for Reconsideration of Medical School Expansion from the Beginning

National Council of Medical School Professors, 8th Statement

Medical school professors are urging the government and the medical community to engage in dialogue and are demanding a fundamental reconsideration of the medical school enrollment quota.

Kim Chang-su, President of the National Association of Medical School Professors./Photo by Choi Tae-won peaceful1@

The Korean Association of Medical School Professors (KAMSP) issued its 8th statement on the 17th, stating, "KAMSP calls on the government for prompt dialogue with the medical community amid the imminent collapse of healthcare, and the medical community's unified position has consistently been a fundamental reconsideration of the medical school enrollment increase from the start."

They continued, "Throughout the entire process of increasing enrollment, the opinions of medical school professors, who are directly involved in medical education, have never been gathered, and the increase of 2,000 students is a number that does not reflect the reality of education," adding, "If the increase proceeds at the current scale, many universities will fail to receive accreditation for medical education evaluation due to insufficient human resources and facilities, leading to a severe decline in the quality of medical school education."

They also argued that increasing medical school enrollment cannot solve the crisis in essential medical care. They stated, "The crisis in essential medical care fundamentally arose because the state did not take responsibility for public medical resources and left them to the private sector," and "Discussing an increase in doctors before establishing an environment where doctors can practice without being constrained by fees and clinical income is meaningless."

Furthermore, they said, "To prevent the concentration of patients in large hospitals in Seoul, which is one of the causes of the disappearance of regional medical care, a medical delivery system should be established so that mild illnesses can be treated at nearby hospitals, and minimum consultation time should be secured to restore trust between doctors and patients," urging, "The government must observe the field and listen to expert opinions to determine what effective measures are."

Meanwhile, they also sent an open letter to university presidents nationwide, stating, "To educate the significantly increased number of students, large-scale hospital expansions are necessary, which would drastically increase medical expenses and impose burdens that medical school professors would find difficult to bear," and requested, "Please consider your duty as educators and withdraw the excessive increase in medical school enrollment."