[Reporter’s Notebook] Return to the 'Starting Point' of Medical School Expansion

"Hasty and unilateral medical school quota increase, discuss it from the beginning!" On the 22nd, doctors from all sectors gathered at the Korean Medical Association building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, to hold the "National Doctors' Representatives Meeting for Medical Manipulation and Punishment of Responsible Parties." The entire medical community only came together after the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol was passed.

Since the martial law proclamation included the "discipline of residents," voices criticizing President Yoon have grown louder within the medical community, while logical criticism of the medical school quota increase policy has relatively diminished. The ongoing medical-government conflict feels almost like a confrontation between the medical community and President Yoon personally. This sentiment is also reflected in the remarks of Ahn Cheol-soo, a doctor-turned-People Power Party lawmaker attending the event, who said, "The proclamation caused humiliation not only to residents and the medical community but also to the public." While the sentiment is understandable, the medical community seems to be starting an 'emotional battle' when they should be voicing their concerns calmly and rationally.

The government's response is also problematic. On the 18th, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho stated at the National Assembly's Education Committee, "(Regarding the medical school quota) considering the possibility of lawsuits, the government cannot make any adjustments." This is a self-serving, face-saving remark. If the medical school quota cannot be readjusted, the basis should be the necessity of physician supply, not avoidance of lawsuits. The government's promised improvements to medical education environments have not progressed at all. The recruitment of local medical school professors, which was supposed to increase by 1,000 within three years, has not even started. Ajou University declared the suspension of building lecture halls and education-research buildings for the increased medical students. Yet, the government keeps repeating, "Medical reform will proceed as planned" (Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong).

The opposition party, which claims to lead the resolution of the medical crisis, also has problems. Residents suspect that the opposition is trying to insert the establishment of public medical schools (with civic group recommended admissions), which the medical community strongly opposed during the 2020 medical-government conflict. In fact, on the 19th, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Hee-seung distributed poll data showing "74% of the public believes public medical schools will solve medical blind spots." There are many other instances where the Democratic Party advocated for the necessity of public medical schools amid the medical crisis. If politically charged topics are introduced in future dialogues between the political sphere led by the Democratic Party and the medical community, the situation will become even more complicated. It is hard to feel sincerity even when looking at the 'medical reform budget' passed solely by the opposition, which drastically cut the budget for improving resident training environments and training allowances.

The medical community, government, and opposition party all need to return to the starting point of the medical school quota increase and discuss solutions. They must revisit from the beginning whether there is truly a shortage of doctors, whether sufficient education is possible if quotas increase, and how to improve resident training environments.