Where have all the medical students gone? A surge in active military enlistments leads to a question: ”What will happen to the vacant military medical officer corps?” = South Korea

It is estimated that a significant number of male medical students who have left university have chosen to enlist in the military, which could lead to disruptions to the supply and demand of military medical officers in the future, a representative of the medical resident group said, "Measures for the military medical system
On the 13th, Park Dan, head of the emergency response committee of the Korean Association of Medical Specialists, shared an article on social media about an increasing number of medical students enlisting as active duty doctors instead of as military doctors, and said, "Military doctors are
"What is Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun's plan to deal with the collapse of the medical system?" Park responded, "About 1,000 young doctors are sent to the front lines every year as military doctors or public health doctors.
"Of those who gave up on their medical training, 4,353 are eligible to enlist in March of next year, four times more than usual," the ministry said.
"Until now, specialist doctors have been given priority as military medical officers, but most of the people who will be enlisting next year are general physicians, which is expected to cause problems in the future management of human resources at military hospitals," Park said.
"Students who took leave also applied to become active duty soldiers or community service personnel at the same time, and 1,059 students have already completed their military leave approval. If they are discharged in two or three years,
"If that happens, what will happen to the gap between military medical officers and public health doctors? We need to have a discussion," he added.
Prior to this, Jin Sunmi, a member of the National Assembly Education Committee,
According to the report that Rep. Jin Sun-mi received from the Ministry of Education on the number of students permitted to take military leave at public and private medical schools nationwide, as of the 23rd of last month, 1,059 students from 37 medical schools had been granted permission to take military leave.
The number of students on military leave was in the hundreds in 2021 (116 people), 2022 (138 people), and last year (162 people), but this year the number has increased sharply.
The number of students on military leave this year is 6.5 times higher than last year. It is 7.6 times higher than the average for 2021-2023 (138.7 people).
A significant number of medical students who have taken military leave appear to be trying to resolve their military service while refusing to attend classes in protest against the increase in medical school enrollment.
There are concerns both inside and outside the medical community that the number of medical students taking time off to study for military service has increased dramatically, and that this could lead to problems in the supply of military medical officers in the future.
I am concerned that