Doctors' group vows to stop government's plan for med school quota hike

Kim Taek-woo, who heads the emergency response committee of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), speaks during a media briefing at the KMA building in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

The Korean Medical Association (KMA), the nation’s largest coalition of doctors, vowed to stop the government’s plan to increase the number of medical school students starting next year, denouncing it as an “unreasonable” policy.

The comments came on Wednesday as the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced last week that the annual enrollment quota at 40 medical schools nationwide will increase next year to 5,058 from the current 3,058.

Kim Taek-woo, who heads the KMA’s emergency response committee, said increasing the quota by 2,000 all at once will amount to creating 24 new medical schools, considering the current numbers of medical schools and students.

“This will debase the quality of education and training,” Kim said during a media briefing. “We will stop the government’s push for such an unreasonable policy at any cost.”

The KMA went into emergency mode after its head Lee Pil-soo resigned following the government’s Feb. 8 announcement of the quota hike decision.

Kim said its emergency response committee will hold a meeting on Saturday to decide on the method and timing of its collective action in protest against the government’s plan.

The health ministry said the quota hike is aimed at addressing chronic shortages of doctors in the country, citing that the number of doctors per 1,000 people in the country stood at 2.6, which is below the OECD average of 3.7.

Kim refuted this, saying, “The country has seen no circumstances related to shortages of doctors. The government’s reasoning is not rational.”

As its first collective action, the KMA will hold massive rallies across the nation on Thursday.

A doctor walks down a hallway of a major hospital in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

Medical students joined in the criticisms against the government, expressing their opposition to the quota hike plan.

Representatives from each medical school held an online discussion on Tuesday night to deliberate on their upcoming actions. The discussions ended after midnight, but there was no immediate announcement about collective action plans.

These representatives are expected to announce the results of their discussion on Thursday.

When the previous Moon Jae-in government proposed to raise the quota in 2020, the plan was eventually retracted due to fierce protests by doctors. Medical students at the time joined in the protests by refusing to take the state medical licensing exam.

The health ministry said such a refusal would be impossible this time as this year’s exam was held last month.

The ministry noted it is closely watching the situation as medical students could stage other forms of collective action such as boycotting classes or taking a leave of absence en masse.

The medical students’ discussion came a day after a similar discussion by the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA), an association of interns and resident doctors.

Following the discussion, KIRA announced the resignation of its entire executive board and the establishment of an emergency response committee to address the government’s plan.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo urged medical students, interns and resident doctors to focus on their studies and training, and not to engage in collective action.

Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo speaks during a briefing at the Government Complex Sejong, Wednesday. Yonhap

Park also urged current and former KMA members, who are senior doctors, not to incite collective action or make hostile remarks against the government.

“Medical students, interns and resident doctors are the future of the country’s health care system. Medical reforms pushed for by the government are aimed at improving working environment for them,” Park said during a media briefing, Wednesday.

“The government will promote dialogue to ponder over the issue together with medical students and young doctors. I ask all of you to participate actively. We can discuss anything.”