Medical professors at Chungbuk National University in Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, hold a rally on March 19, 2024, on the campus to demand the withdrawal of the government’s plan to hike the medical school quota. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The government was set to announce Wednesday the allocation of an additional 2,000 medical school admission seats even as the biggest doctors’ group threatens to launch a general strike to protest the quota hike.
Education Minister Lee Ju-ho is expected to make the announcement in the afternoon following a public address by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to government officials.
The allocation announcement will mark the culmination of the government’s much-resisted plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats from the current 3,058 starting next year to enhance health care services in remote areas as well as essential but less popular medical disciplines.
Eighty percent, or 1,600 seats, of the increased capacity are expected to be distributed to medical schools outside the capital area, as part of the government’s efforts to strengthen health care service infrastructure in noncapital regions.
The allocation, if conducted as expected, would increase the total admission seats at medical schools outside the capital area to about 3,623, which accounts for 71.6 percent of the total, up from the current 66.2 percent.
The hike is largely predicted to benefit the medical schools of several state-run universities located in provincial areas the most as well as small-sized medical schools across noncapital areas.
Once the allocation process is completed, each affected university will have the new medical student quota reflected in its school regulations as well as in its medical school admission announcement for the 2025 academic year, which will be released to students around May.
Protesting against the quota hike, more than 90 percent of the country’s 13,000 intern and resident doctors have stayed off their duties at general hospitals nationwide for a month. They argue that the measure would compromise the quality of medical education and services, and lead to an oversupply of physicians.
Medical professors at many universities have also resolved to submit resignations en masse next week.
The Korea Medical Association, the biggest doctors’ group, has denounced the impending allocation as an act that “burns the last bridge for return,” and has warned that the group will discuss the possibility of a general strike with its members and the new group leader to be chosen in an election this week.
(Yonhap)
