All Additional Medical School Admissions After 2027 to Be Selected Through 'Regional Doctor System'

HMPDC’s Third Meeting: 100% Linkage to Strengthen Essential and Public Healthcare

The government is considering a plan to allocate all of next year’s increased medical school admissions to the “regional doctor system,” deploying these new students to regional and essential medical services. This move is seen as an effort to revive local healthcare, which is at risk of disappearing.

Jung Eunkyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, is speaking at the 3rd Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee held on the 13th at the International Electronics Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Ministry of Health and Welfare

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced at the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee (HMPDC) held on the 13th that “a plan was discussed to apply all increases in physician workforce after 2027 to the regional doctor system.” Minister Jung Eunkyung emphasized in her opening remarks that “the ultimate goal of discussions on the physician workforce is to strengthen regional, essential, and public healthcare, which are currently in crisis.”

The regional doctor system expands regional admissions quotas at the medical school entry stage and provides full scholarships, in return for mandatory service in medically underserved areas or specific regions for 10 years after graduation. As a key initiative of the Lee Jaemyung administration to address gaps in regional and essential healthcare, related legislation passed the National Assembly in December last year.

Accordingly, the government has decided that, starting from the 2027 academic year, any increase in the number of medical students beyond the 2026 quota of 3,058 will be selected through the regional doctor system and deployed to regional and essential medical services.

The HMPDC also agreed to continue discussions on the establishment of a public medical academy and the creation of new medical schools in regions currently lacking them, taking into account both the scale of workforce training and the timing of actual deployment to the medical field.

Plans to reflect changes in the future healthcare environment and health policy were also discussed. The HMPDC decided to review the scale of training by considering all combinations of three demand models and two supply models adopted by the estimation committee.

Regarding the quality of medical education, the committee reviewed measures to ensure that the rate of change in admissions between the 2026 quota (3,058 students) and the 2027 quota does not exceed a certain level, and ways for small medical schools to secure an appropriate number of students. The current situation, in which students admitted in the 2024 and 2025 academic years will attend classes together, was also considered.

In addition, reflecting the five-year cycle for workforce estimation, the newly determined quota will be applied from the 2027 to the 2031 academic years. Considering that students admitted during this period will enter the medical field between 2033 and 2037, the year 2037 will be set as the reference year for workforce management, and the next workforce estimation will be conducted in 2029.

Furthermore, at the HMPDC meeting, the estimated physician shortage for the reference year 2037 was discussed based on the analysis of demand and supply model combinations submitted by the estimation committee. As a result, the physician shortage in 2037 is estimated to range from a minimum of 2,530 to a maximum of 7,261. The HMPDC plans to prepare multiple scenarios for physician workforce training and present them at the next meeting, reflecting the outcomes of the current discussion.

Minister Jung Eunkyung stated, “We will continue discussions with the goal of strengthening regional, essential, and public healthcare, without being fixated on quantitative figures or numbers.”