Medical community urges government to reconsider expansion of medical school capacity = South Korea

The South Korean government announced that it will increase the number of students admitted to medical schools by 2,000 starting from the 2025 entrance exam, but this has sparked opposition from the medical community. To date, the number of medical schools has increased to alleviate the shortage of doctors.
Hospital groups that have supported the increase in staff numbers have also criticized the government's increase in staff, calling it ``inappropriate'' and demanding a review. Korean Hospital Association, Private University Medical Center Association, Korean Private University Hospital Association, Korean Middle School
On the 6th, the Hospital Association, National University Hospital Association, Korea Specialty Hospital Association, and Korea Training Hospital Council released this joint statement in connection with the government's plan to expand the admission capacity of medical schools.
The statement said, ``The medical world is facing various social impacts and changes in the medical environment, such as the future of medical care, population decline, and the departure of human resources in science, engineering, and basic science fields.
``We have supported the gradual expansion of the number of medical faculty members at an appropriate and reasonable level, taking into account the current situation.'' However, ``the level announced by the government today should cause great concern within the medical community.''
he pointed out. He added, ``We must listen to the opinions of experts and make careful decisions about whether the quality of medical education is at a level that is sufficient to guarantee the quality of medical education.''
We strongly urge the government to reconsider the increase in the number of medical faculty in order to maintain the appropriate quality of medical education." Although hospital organizations sympathize with the direction of increasing the number of doctors, they are concerned about population decline and
We have taken the position that decisions on increasing the number of students at medical schools must be made by comprehensively considering various social influences, including changes in medical demand.