Yoon shows firm resolve to pursue medical school quota expansion
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with a doctor ahead of a meeting to discuss measures to reform the country’s health care system at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. Courtesy of presidential office
President Yoon Suk Yeol made it clear, Thursday, that he will push ahead with a plan to raise the enrollment quota of medical schools to help stop or at least slow down deepening regional disparities in medical services and prepare for an aging society.
However, the president did not announce specific plans yet, such as how much the quota will increase annually, apparently mindful of the possibility of massive protests from doctors, who publicly oppose a hike and have urged the government to address more urgent issues first, such as improving working conditions for physicians.
“Increasing the number of doctors and nurturing talent is a necessary condition to revive regional medical services and prepare for the nation's transition to a super-aged society,” Yoon said while presiding over a meeting to discuss measures to reform the country’s health care system. “The government will deal with the collapse of the medical service supply system.”
During the meeting, a set of strategies to guarantee better public access to medical services, especially in rural areas, were announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but detailed plans for the medical school quota hike were excluded from the announcement.
It was widely seen as the government taking one step back, as the Korea Medical Association (KMA) representing doctors threatened to stage fierce protests if officials push ahead with the announcement without sufficient consultations with the association.
President Yoon Suk Yeol presides over a meeting to discuss measures to reform the country’s health care system at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Thursday. Joint press corps
The government has been seeking to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota, as the country has faced serious shortages of surgeons, obstetricians, pediatricians and other physicians needed to provide essential medical care.
The total admissions quota of the 40 medical schools in Korea has remained unchanged at 3,058 since 2006.
According to the health ministry, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in the country stood at 2.5, far below the OECD average of 3.7.
A high-ranking official at the presidential office noted that the government is clearly committed to increasing the medical school quota starting in 2025.
The official said the government has yet to decide on how much the quota will increase, but the Yoon administration is expected to increase it by more than 1,000.
As this policy is mainly aimed at improving regional disparities, the government is considering increasing the quota at medical schools of state-run universities located outside the Seoul metropolitan area, according to sources.
The government is also considering establishing new medical graduate schools to cultivate more health experts.
The move has been largely supported by the public and even opposition parties, following a number of cases where patients died in ambulances while being transported to other emergency rooms after being rejected by hospitals that cited a shortage of doctors or beds.
Shortages of pediatricians have also forced many parents to wait for hours to see a doctor when their children are sick.
Yet, the government chose to hold off on announcing specific plans regarding the quota hike and instead looked to gain time to consult more with the doctors’ group.
This choice was based on the lessons of the past, as the previous Moon Jae-in government eventually retracted its 2020 proposal to raise the medical student quota by 4,000 over 10 years, after facing fierce protests by physicians and trainee doctors as well as medical students.
“Reforming the health care system is for the people,” Yoon said. “The government will communicate sufficiently with doctors in the field and experts, so the policy for the people can be implemented effectively.”
Yoon vowed to work together with the medical community to resolve problems cited by the doctors’ group as more urgent issues to be addressed, such as comparatively low compensation for surgeons, obstetricians and pediatricians as well as emergency medicine specialists.
Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong announces a set of strategies to guarantee better public access to medical services at the Government Complex in Sejong, Thursday. Yonhap
Meanwhile, the health ministry’s strategies to guarantee better access to medical services, announced during the meeting, included developing national university hospitals into a central pillar of the essential medical care system.
Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong said the measures are aimed at preventing the collapse of health services in rural regions.
“Toward that end, oversight of national university hospitals will be transferred to the health ministry from the education ministry,” Cho said during a media briefing later in the day.
Regarding the government’s announcement, the Korea Medical Association said it agrees with the need to nurture and support workers who are needed in essential and local medical care.
“We will closely cooperate with the government and do our best to supplement measures to support the essential and local medical care system,” the association said in a statement.