Starting with the 2025 college entrance exam taken by this year’s high school seniors, the admission quota for medical schools will increase by 2,000. The expansion raises the medical school admission seats to 5058, up from the capped 3058 since 2006. The increased admission slots will be primarily allocated to medical schools in non-metropolitan regions.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare decided on the size of the medical school quota expansion at a healthcare policy review committee on Feb. 6, attended by medical community members and patient and consumer organizations. “It is projected that there will be a shortage of 15,000 doctors in 2035, and we plan to expand the doctor workforce by 10,000 by the year,” said Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong. “If 2,000 additional students are admitted from the 2025 academic year, they will be graduated from 2031, expanding the doctor workforce by up to 10,000 in five years until 2035,” he added. It takes six years for a medical student to graduate. “The increased number of medical school seats will be allocated to medical schools in non-metropolitan areas,” Cho said, “and non-metropolitan medical schools will be encouraged to recruit more than 60% of new students through local talent selection.”
The Ministry said increasing the number of medical school seats is necessary to prevent the collapse of essential medical services such as surgery and pediatrics, as well as regional medical services, and to cope with the growing medical needs due to an aging population. “Many people are suffering due to a shortage of doctors,” President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a cabinet meeting on Feb. 6. “Expanding the doctor workforce is an urgent societal task that can no longer be delayed to protect the health and lives of the public.”
Physician organizations such as the Korean Medical Association reacted strongly, saying they could not accept the government’s unilateral increase in medical school seats. The Korean Medical Association held an emergency press conference on Feb. 6, saying, “If the government unilaterally expands the number of medical schools, we will initiate a general strike.” The association also boycotted the Healthcare and Medical Policy Deliberative Committee meeting that day. The Korean Intern Resident Association revealed that in a recent survey of about 10,000 interns and residents, 88.2% responded that they would “engage in collective actions, including strikes,” in response to the increase in medical school admissions. Strikes by interns and residents who train and work in major hospitals could disrupt normal medical operations. Physician organizations argue that “the collapse of regional and essential medical services is not due to a shortage of doctors but to poor working conditions.”
