'Half' Opposition-Party Medical Policy Council Launches on the 11th... Further Complicating Medical School Expansion Reassessment

Medical Association, Residents, and Opposition Party Absent... Medical Society and Medical Student Association Likely to Participate
Composition of Physician Workforce Supply Estimation Committee Still Undecided
Possibility Raised of Ineffective Medical Reform Special Committee Facing Trial

The People Power Party has confirmed the launch of the 'Ruling and Opposition Parties, Medical Community, and Government Consultative Body' to discuss the increase in medical school admissions and the medical crisis on the 11th. This marks the official launch about two months after Representative Han Dong-hoon formally proposed the formation of the consultative body to the opposition party on September 6. However, within the medical community, opinions remain divided over whether to participate in the consultative body. With doctors, resident groups, and even the opposition party expected to abstain, it is likely to become a half-hearted consultative body. There are concerns it could become a replay of the Presidential Commission on Medical Reform, which lost its presence after effectively being a government-only initiative that announced the first phase of medical reform implementation four months after 'opening the door and starting' without medical community participation last April.

According to the medical community on the 5th, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, a representative academic organization of the medical community, and the Korean Association of Medical Colleges and Medical Schools (KAMC), composed of medical school deans nationwide, are expected to participate in the ruling and opposition parties, medical community, and government consultative body as previously announced. KAMC is reported to hold an extraordinary board meeting this week to discuss the specific agenda items to be addressed in the consultative body.

Earlier, the Academy of Medical Sciences and KAMC were the first among medical organizations to officially express their intention to participate in the consultative body, setting the unconditional approval of medical students' leaves of absence as a prerequisite. In response, the Ministry of Education announced that approval of medical students' leaves of absence would be left to the autonomous judgment of each university.

Despite various concerns within the medical community, the two organizations maintain that dialogue is necessary first to resolve the crisis. In a statement released on the 29th of last month, they said, "If discussions on the current issues do not begin, the collapse of the Korean medical system is an unmistakably clear situation," and added, "We hope that the Democratic Party of Korea will participate in the consultative body so that all parties involved in the genuine 'Ruling and Opposition Parties, Medical Community, and Government Consultative Body' engage sincerely in discussions and produce meaningful conclusions." The Democratic Party currently holds a negative stance on participation, insisting that residents and medical students must be involved.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Residents and medical school professors, who hold the key to resolving the crisis, continue to insist they will not participate in the consultative body unless the increase in medical school admissions for next year is reconsidered from scratch. The Emergency Committee of Professors of Medical Schools Nationwide (Jeon-ui-bi) stated, "The most important agenda in the consultative body is the readjustment of the 2025 medical school admissions quota, and unless there is discussion related to this, there will be no change in our position," while the Korean Medical Association (KMA) also drew a clear line, saying, "(The position of non-participation) will not change."

Park Dan, the emergency committee chairperson of the Korean Intern and Resident Association (Daehyeonhyeop), posted on his social media on the same day, saying, "We will not turn back," and argued, "Each university must admit that normal (medical school) education is impossible and discuss suspending admissions by school even now." However, the government's proposal to form a Physician Workforce Supply and Demand Estimation Committee, aimed at creating a rational physician supply adjustment system, is currently suspended due to the lack of physician organization recommendations for committee members. The government's policy of 'no adjustment to the 2025 medical school admissions quota' and the physician organizations' demand for 'reconsideration of the increase from scratch' remain at an impasse without any sign of resolution.

However, amid the divided opinions within the medical community, the Korean Medical Association's plan to put the transition to an emergency committee system to a vote could become another variable. If KMA President Im Hyun-taek is impeached on the 10th and the association transitions to an emergency committee system, there is speculation that discussions with the government could advance. A medical community official said, "Now, if the emergency committee is launched, there is a consensus that residents will also participate in the dialogue," and assessed, "There is a possibility that the KMA and professor groups will also participate in the consultative body to better represent the medical community's voice in the future."