Controversy raised over preferential treatment for medical students

A study room of a medical school in Seoul is empty, Tuesday, amid continued class boycotts by students in protest of the government's medical school quota hike policy. Yonhap

Plans proposed by universities to prevent medical students from failing the semester due to insufficient class hours have been mired in controversy, as these special rules are seen as obvious preferential treatment given to certain students.

According to the Ministry of Education, Tuesday, 37 universities operating medical schools across the country submitted plans they are reviewing, amid growing concerns over grade retention among many medical students who have been boycotting classes since the beginning of the current semester in February, in support of nationwide protests of doctors against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s policy to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 for next year.

In their plans, the universities asked the education ministry to allow them to adopt flexible academic requirements for medical students, including the drastic increase in the availability of online classes to help boycotting students meet their class hour requirements without having to attend in-person classes.

The schools have also suggested postponing the annual national exam for doctor’s licenses, scheduled for September, as well as the test application period, slated for July, in case medical school seniors, who are subject to the exam, would not be able to graduate on time due to insufficient class attendance.

Some schools are reviewing a special rule to temporarily exempt the medical students from the standard for failing the current semester, so they can be exempted from having to repeat the semester. The schools’ proposal is to allow students who have not failed to meet their class hour requirements to fulfill them in the next semester.

Academic regulations of most medical schools stipulate that students who miss more than one-third or one-fourth of classes receive a failing grade. Failing even one course at a medical school requires the students to repeat the year.

The plans proposed by the universities have added fuel to the ongoing controversy over preferential treatment given to medical students, which has already been raised since the schools allowed the students to attend classes online in response to their boycott.

Critics pointed to the principle of equity, saying students in other departments have not been afforded the same conveniences. They also said adopting a special rule to exempt medical students from the standard for failing a semester or postponing the national exam schedule amounts to clear favoritism.

“It’s ridiculous as schools are moving to grant preferential treatment to some students in a certain department,” an online commentator replied to a related news article. “I hope the education and health ministries will not accept the plans. Students with insufficient class hours should repeat the year according to the rules.”

Apparently being mindful of the controversy, the government took a cautious stance, as both education and health ministries said the matter requires further review.