Even if the number of medical students in the class of 2025 is increased, it will take a decade before these students become fully-fledged doctors. The medical community has pointed out that relying solely on the expansion of medical school enrollment to address the crisis in essential and community healthcare would be a decade-long neglect. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Many health service consumers welcomed Tuesday’s government decision to drastically increase the medical school enrollment quota, saying it will improve access to doctors, but others voiced skepticism that it could erode the quality of medical services.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the entrance quota for medical schools will increase by 2,000 to 5,058, a 65.4 percent jump from the current number of medical school seats, marking the first expansion since 1997.
The decision came in response to long-standing consumer complaints about shortages in core medical services, such as health care for children and maternity, as well as in sparsely populated remote regions, amidst a widely criticized trend for doctors to prioritize lucrative cosmetic fields in urban areas.
Online communities often have stories and questions from parents with sick young children, who have to line up for hours before neighborhood pediatric centers open for business due to a high number of patients.
Doctors’ associations fiercely resist the plan, claiming establishing public hospitals and offering better salaries would be the right way to have doctors work in rural areas or in less popular health care fields.
The Korean Medical Association, a mainstream lobby group of doctors, warned it would launch a nationwide strike if the government “unilaterally” pushes for the quota expansion.
“As someone who is raising a young child, I can’t help but agree with the medical school entrance quota increase,” Hong, a 32-year-old office worker with a two-year-old daughter, told Yonhap News Agency.
“When you visit a pediatrician’s office, making a reservation is a must, and often you have to rush for the opening hour. If the number of doctors increases, I believe we can have easier access to medical services,” the office worker said.
Another 42-year-old office worker in South Gyeongsang Province, surnamed Park, criticized doctors’ associations for “collective egotism” over their protests.
“It constitutes collective egotism for doctors to choose their preferred specialties yet still oppose the medical school quota increase aimed at filling the vacuum in (unpopular) core medical fields,” Park said.
Rhyu Seok-hwan, a 64-year-old citizen of Seoul, voiced frustration for the brief three-minute meeting he was allowed when he recently visited an orthopedics hospital for leg pain.
“An increase in the number of doctors would solve that problem,” he said.
Other people worry that the quota increase could erode the quality of medical services by attracting less qualified doctors or could exacerbate the already fierce competition to enter medical schools.
“I am not sure if simply increasing the number of doctors could induce them to voluntarily choose unpopular fields or work in remote regional areas,” a 31-year-old citizen, surnamed Bae, said, emphasizing the need for more elaborate policy designing.
A 56-year-old parent who has two elementary school-age children, surnamed Kim, is concerned the decision could lead to the admission of unqualified students into medical schools.
“I am worried about the possibility of a decline in the quality of medical service skills … It’s a high risk to be shouldered by consumers,” the parent said.
The parent also voiced concerns that the quota increase could further fuel demand for expensive private education by inducing more students to compete for medical school admission.
“In fact, I briefly considered the opportunities the policy could provide for my children,” he said. “All parents may pursue private education with the same mindset, and that would likely intensify the competition for medical school entrance,” he added.
(Yonhap)
