South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said he would allow medical schools to determine their own admission quotas next year, a move that raised hopes of an end to medical tensions.
The information was released on April 19, after a government meeting, to end the long strike. Accordingly, the government allows 32 universities to flexibly increase enrollment targets, with annual increases ranging from 50% to 100%, starting from 2025. This means that officials agree with the proposal. 6 national medical schools want to reduce enrollment targets by 50% next year due to concerns about not ensuring training facilities. Previously, the country planned to increase medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 by 2025, with an additional 10,000 doctors expected by 2023.
Mr. Han sees the above decision as a potential move to reach compromise in the context of a lack of consensus in the medical community. “By proactively accepting recommendations from deans of schools, I hope to create opportunities to protect medical students, normalize education and resolve conflicts,” he said.
Han emphasized that this decision is aimed at breaking the deadlock after a series of surgeries and treatments across the country were canceled. He said that Korea cannot ignore the damage caused by the medical gap.
Previously, from February 20, more than 9,000 resident doctors, the core force who care for and treat critically ill patients, left the hospital to protest the policy of increasing medical school enrollment quotas. This puts Korea on the brink of a major health crisis. The crisis spread to the training sector, as medical students and many medical school professors quit to support resident doctors. Meanwhile, the government began to revoke the practice licenses of nearly 5,000 of the above doctors, while also considering criminal sanctions.
Medical professors lined up to submit their resignations during a meeting at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, March 26. Image: AP
The strikers protested the government’s proposed medical training reform program, increasing the enrollment target for medical schools by 2,000 people from 2025. They said that this plan to increase the number of medical school students would affects the quality of medical services, causing patients’ hospital bills to increase. Instead of increasing enrollment quotas, the government should address the income and working conditions of current medical staff.
Meanwhile, the government believes that increasing targets is necessary to cope with the aging population and strengthen the medical force for essential sectors such as pediatrics, emergency medicine, and surgery.
By 2035, about 30% of South Korea’s population will be 65 years old or older. According to statistics from the National Health Insurance Company, the need for hospitalization of the elderly is 11 times higher than that of people in their 30s and 40s. With 20% of the total number of doctors over 70 years old, it is difficult for Korea to avoid the situation. There is a serious lack of medical manpower. Research agencies predict the country will lack at least 10,000 doctors by 2035.