Low Pass Rate On Medical Exams For Those Graduating Abroad

Over the past thirteen years, the number of Koreans who graduated from foreign universties, principally the Phillippines, who passed the national medical practitioner examination was only a third of that of graduates of Korean universities.
The Health and Welfare Ministry announced on December 2 that 3,699 people had taken the examination to be eligible to practice medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy with 1,025 having passed it since 1986.
36% of those who graduated from foreign universities passed the pharmacy exam, 28% for medicine, and 23% for dentistry. These figures are very low, compared to the 70 to 80% for those who graduated from Korean schools.
Among them, the number of graduates from Philippino universities was 977, 95.3% of foreign graduating students who took the test. A source at the ministry said, 'Some experts indicated that graduates spend a lot of money for nothing because of the low pass rate. We advise taking the pre-tests for the examination.'