Medical school deans call for admissions quota freeze

Social Affairs

Published: 21 Apr. 2024, 18:28 Updated: 21 Apr. 2024, 19:17

Medical school deans call for admissions quota freeze

A medical professional passes by resting patients at a hospital in Seoul on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Deans of medical schools nationwide on Sunday asked the government to freeze the admissions quota for the upcoming 2025 enrollment and discuss the future of increasing medical personnel through a consultative body.

The announcement follows the government’s move on Friday to break the deadlock with doctors by allowing 32 medical schools nationwide the autonomy to adjust their portion of the quota by 50 to 100 percent in 2025. For example, a school allotted a required increase of 100 spots could opt to increase its quota only by 50 for that year.

The Korea Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC), which consists of 40 medical schools and graduate schools of medicine, held a deans' meeting on Thursday and made a proposal on Sunday.

The KAMC said the government should determine the medical school admissions quota for 2025, considering that the university application period is only a few months away. The association said this would also help bring back junior doctors and medical students.

It added that the government should form as soon as possible a consultative body with the medical community that could scientifically calculate admissions for 2026 and onward and establish a governance system determining the future supply and demand for medical personnel.

The association also expressed its concerns regarding students’ mandatory school days.

According to the KAMC, students are about to fail to meet their required school days at the end of April due to repeated postponements and cancellations during the semester, though the association did its best to normalize the schools’ academic schedule.

The KAMC said the Ministry of Education "disapproves" of the medical school students’ leaves of absence, but if the situation continues, "deans will inevitably have to approve their leave to minimize mass flunking and tuition losses."

“Amid such deep conflicts, it is not sensible to rely on and determine the number of the nation’s medical personnel based on autonomous decisions by university presidents,” the association said, expressing its objection to the government’s proposal on Friday.

Medical personnel walk at a hospital in Seoul on Sunday morning.[NEWS1]

The KAMC also said that the resignation of junior doctors and the flunking of medical school students would destroy the medical personnel training system and cause an unrecoverable education loss.

“We strongly plead to the government to make a wise decision as they are the ones holding the key to solving the situation,” the association said.

The KAMC was not alone is giving the government’s flexible approach a cold reception.

On Saturday, the Korea Medical Association (KMA) rejected the government’s Friday offer for a flexible quota hike next year, arguing that it was not a “fundamental solution” for the situation after its emergency committee held a meeting the same day.

The KMA criticized the government’s special committee for medical reform, saying it has "no defined composition or role.”

The emergency committee said it would not participate in the committee as it sees it as “meaningless” to hold hands with a committee that does not reflect stakeholders' opinions.

The KMA also requested President Yoon Suk Yeol and the government to rethink the plan from the beginning, including increasing the medical school admissions quota, saying that “there isn’t much time left to solve the current situation.”

On Friday, the government announced a flexible approach to its initial medical school quota hike for next year, two months after junior doctors nationwide left their jobs in protest of the government’s decision to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 spots.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the flexibility will only pertain to the 2025 academic year. The plan to hike admissions by 2,000 will strictly apply to the academic year of 2026 and onward.

The announcement follows the request by the presidents of six national universities — Kangwon National University, Kyungpook National University, Gyeongsang National University, Jeju National University, Chungbuk National University and Chungnam National University — asking for permission to halve the admission hike for upcoming admissions.

With the government’s offer of a flexible quota hike next year, the enrollment number is expected to be around 1,500 if private universities continue with the entire quota hike. If both public and private universities take the flexible approach, it could go as low as 1,000.

All 32 universities are required to submit their plans for next year’s admissions quota by April 30. The schools must also submit their plans for the 2026 academic year based on the full 2,000 quota hike by late this month.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks about the government's approach to the medical school quota during a press briefing on Friday. [NEWS1]

During the press briefing on Friday, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong stressed that the government is not considering revisiting or postponing the plan by a year, as the essential medical field needs to be filled immediately and the university application period is approaching.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Lee Ju-ho added that they are still open to discussing the quota of 2,000 as long as the medical community presents a suitable alternative backed by "scientific reasoning."

However, the government received criticism from the medical community after its proposal was released.

Joo Su-ho, former head of the Korean Medical Association, said the proposal was a bad plan based on wrong advice.

“Was lowering the quota by a few hundred the only alternative the government could bring up with the school presidents merely serving as puppets?” he wrote on Facebook Friday. “The only exit [to this standoff] would be to rethink the plan completely.”

Over 90 percent of Korea’s 13,000 junior doctors remain on strike. The strike began on Feb. 20 to protest the government’s plan to increase the medical school admissions quota by 2,000 from the current limit of 3,058, which has been frozen since its last reduction in 2006.

The walkout has caused chaos in the country’s medical system as junior doctors, who comprise 30 to 40 percent of the total number of doctors at the country’s top hospitals, assist senior doctors during surgeries and manage inpatients.

BY KIM JI-YE, CHO JUNG-WOO [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]