Defense ministry mulls setting up own medical school to increase military doctors

An ambulance arrives at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Feb. 20. Joint Press Corps

The Ministry of National Defense is pushing to set up its own medical school in an effort to increase the number of medical personnel within the military and contribute to enhancing the country’s public health care services, officials said, Thursday.

“Various measures have been reviewed to nurture more long-term-service military doctors. Creating a tentatively named national defense medical school is one of those ideas,” a ministry official said.

“We will commission a study soon to decide the formation and the number of students of such a school.”

Military doctors are commissioned officers who are licensed to practice as physicians or dentists.

In Korea, it is mandatory for all able-bodied men to serve in the military, and male doctors can serve as medical officers for three years to fulfil this obligation.

Compared with these short-term-service military doctors, the number of applicants for the long-term service of 10 years has remained in single digits for the past 10 years.

The number came to four in 2014, three in 2016, one in 2018, zero in 2020 and one in 2022. Last year also saw zero applicants, amid continued complaints over wages and working environment.

As of July last year, military doctors on long-term service accounted for only 7.7 percent of the total 2,400 medical personnel within the military.

The ministry official pointed out that a lack of military doctors on long-term service has raised questions over the competence of medical officers and therefore dragged down their reliability.

An increase in the number of officers on long-term service means more veteran doctors could be secured within the military, the official noted.

The creation of the military’s medical school is also expected to contribute to strengthening the country’s public health care services.

The idea is particularly drawing attention amid the protracted medical service disruptions caused by a nationwide walkout by thousands of interns and resident doctors at the country's major hospitals.

In response to the trainee doctors’ collective action, which began in February in protest against the government’s policy to increase the quota of medical students next year, the defense ministry opened the emergency rooms of 12 military hospitals to civilians. As of Tuesday, 1,123 civilian patients have been treated there, according to the ministry’s data.

The defense ministry also emphasized the role medical officers have played in public health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were involved in treating civilian patients.

In 2011, the ministry came up with a similar idea of creating its own medical school but the plan foundered due to fierce opposition from medical groups.

Based on this experience, the ministry said it will carry out sufficient discussions and consultations with medical sector bodies, the National Assembly and other related institutions in a bid to facilitate the idea this time.