Seoul National University and Yonsei University Medical Schools Selected as Support Institutions for 'Training Convergent Physician-Scientists'

Five Consortia Including Kyungpook National University and Korea University Selected for Graduate Programs

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced that the following five consortia have been selected as support targets for the '2025 Convergent Physician-Scientist Training Project': for undergraduate programs, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Yonsei University College of Medicine; for graduate programs, Kyungpook National University (Kyungpook National University·Keimyung University), Korea University (Yeungnam University·Hanyang University·Chungbuk National University), Seoul National University (Chungnam National University), Yonsei University Sinchon (Catholic University·Ajou University·CHA University), and Yonsei University Wonju.

The selected institutions will carry out the project for three years until February 2028, training students aspiring to become physician-scientists.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has supported the full-cycle training process up to doctoral degree acquisition through the 'Convergent Physician-Scientist Training Project.' Furthermore, to enable the physician-scientists (MD-Ph.D.) produced through this program to continue their research, the ministry supports the 'Global Physician-Scientist Training Project,' which provides support for up to 11 years according to career stages of physician-scientists (3 years for early career, 3 years for advanced, and 5 years for leader stages).

Previously, the graduate school infrastructure support project has provided 180 million KRW annually per consortium since 2019, helping to establish physician-scientist training systems at each school and laying the foundation for educational and research collaboration within the consortium. The consortia also independently selected residents to support concurrent clinical training and research.

Since 2022, the support target has been expanded to include undergraduate medical programs, providing 270 million KRW annually to create an educational environment where medical students can experience and consider a career as physician-scientists in advance, offering various programs such as research practicums.

Jung Eun-young, Director of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Physician-scientists are key talents in the biohealth field who can solve clinical challenges in the laboratory. We will expand the base so that students can consider a career as physician-scientists from the undergraduate level, and actively pursue budget securing and system improvements to create an ecosystem where master's and doctoral students can focus on and continuously conduct research."