[2024 National Audit] "Revision of UIPA Regulations Causes Difficulties in Medical Education Evaluation"

Andukseon Uipyeongwonjang Expresses Concern Over Ministry of Education Enforcement Decree Amendment

The head of the Korea Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE), Ahn Deok-seon, expressed concerns that the government's proposed amendment to the enforcement decree, which aims to reduce the authority of the institute, "could cause difficulties in proper medical education evaluation."

[Photo by National Assembly Broadcasting]

On the 8th, Park Jumin, Chair of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, referred to the Ministry of Education’s recent legislative notice regarding changes to regulations related to KIMEE during the Health and Welfare Committee’s national audit, asking Ahn, who appeared as a witness, "Do you feel that the concerns voiced by some that there is an intention to cancel KIMEE’s re-designation are becoming more concrete?"

In response, Ahn said, "The newly established provisions concerning the cancellation of accreditation bodies, the mandatory provision of a remediation period instead of a non-accreditation judgment during disaster situations, and the obligation for prior review of evaluation criteria and procedures that KIMEE had autonomously implemented?all these provisions are considered to cause difficulties in confirming the conditions of medical education through proper evaluation and accreditation."

Earlier, the Ministry of Education’s amendment to the "Regulations on Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions," announced on the 25th of last month, includes ▲ establishing grounds for prior review of changes to evaluation and accreditation criteria ▲ introducing grounds for extending the validity period of existing evaluations and accreditations in case of a gap in accreditation bodies ▲ special provisions for granting a remediation period of more than one year before non-accreditation judgments.

When Chair Park asked whether there is a movement to lower the evaluation and accreditation criteria themselves, Ahn replied, "We have not yet received any direct notification."

In August, during a joint hearing of the Education and Welfare Committees, the National Assembly pointed out that even if prior review of changes to evaluation and accreditation criteria is conducted, lowering the criteria itself should not be allowed, and the Ministers of Education and Health and Welfare responded that such a thing would not happen.

Ahn explained, "KIMEE itself is a relatively small organization, but in addition to the regular and interim evaluations previously conducted, we now have to carry out a new major change evaluation, so there is difficulty due to the increased workload. All 30 universities subject to this major change evaluation have submitted applications, and once they submit their self-evaluation reports by the end of November, KIMEE will form a major change evaluation team to conduct evaluations from December through January of next year."

Ahn also stated, "KIMEE is committed to its mission of producing competent doctors and contributing to public health by ensuring that universities properly prepare the conditions for basic medical education and that, under such prepared conditions, proper medical training is conducted."