"Medical School Quotas Must Be Adjusted Starting from Academic Year 27"... Opposition Holds Individual Debate Sessions

Government officials including the Ministry of Education refuse participation
Kang Cheonghee "Patients and the public must be at the center"
Oh Juhwan "Let's allow more time for staffing discussions"

The Special Committee on Health and Medical Care of the Democratic Party of Korea announced on the 23rd that it will hold a "Medical Education Normalization Forum" at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 24th.

The Health and Medical Special Committee initially planned to invite government officials from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to the forum. However, since the government expressed its intention not to participate, the forum could not proceed as originally planned.

Accordingly, Committee Chair Kang Cheong-hee decided to hold the forum on the 24th with experts and representatives from patient and civic groups. In a phone interview, Chair Kang emphasized the significance of the forum, stating, "Now, it is necessary for the government and the medical community to respond to the demands of the people, centering on patients and the public."

On June 11, a placard condemning the government's increase in medical school quotas was placed at the Korea Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The topic of this forum is to explore ways to normalize medical education so that medical students on leave can return to school. Attendees include parents of medical students, residents who have resigned, and representatives of patient organizations such as the Korea Severe Disease Alliance. Considering that some medical school classes will begin as early as January next year, they are expected to advocate for the prompt return of medical students on leave.

Professor Oh Joo-hwan of Seoul National University College of Medicine, who will present at the forum, plans to emphasize that the medical school expansion policy promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration was not reasonable. Based on research indicating that the shortage of doctors will occur starting in 2037, Professor Oh argues that there is time to discuss the issue of medical school quotas gradually. Unlike the Yoon administration’s decision to increase admissions for the 2025 and 2026 academic years, he believes that adjusting the admission quota for the 2027 academic year through social consensus would be appropriate.

However, Chair Kang analyzed that it is impossible to restart discussions on the 2025 academic year expansion from scratch at this point. For now, the intention is to compromise between the positions of the medical community and the government. He said, "It is necessary to make the medical community recognize that canceling the 2025 academic year expansion is realistically difficult," but added, "If the public strongly demands it, administrative power will move."