Expand medical school admission quotas to guarantee public's health rights
A debate is heating up over the expansion of medical school admission quotas. The government and the ruling Democratic Party decided Thursday to allow medical colleges to recruit 400 more students a year from 2022. Of the 4,000 additional doctors produced in 10 years, 3,000 will be obliged to work in provincial areas in fields dealing with severe diseases. The other 1,000 will be required to perform special duties, such as epidemiological surveying or research.
Additionally, the government plans to open a new public medical school with 50 students. It is also considering allowing the establishment of medical schools in regions where there are no existing medical education institutions. The Korean Medical Association (KMA), an interest group of doctors, threatened to take collective action, including a strike, claiming the government was pushing ahead with the plan while ignoring the opinion of the medical community.
Korea absolutely lacks doctors. Medical school admission quotas have been fixed at 3,058 since 2006. In 2018, there were 2.04 doctors per 1,000 people in Korea, far lower than the OECD's average of 3.48 doctors. Seoul had 3.12 doctors ― approaching industrial countries' level ― but the number stood at 1.38 for North Gyeongsang Province, showing a wide regional disparity. Some retirees are reluctant to move to provinces for fear they will not receive appropriate treatment if they fall ill. The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, a civic group, said that even if Korea turns out 6,000 doctors a year, it will still be short of 25,000 doctors by 2050.
The government's decision is drawing a sensitive reaction from physicians. Policymakers need to listen to the KMA's complaints about their one-way push and its calls for a more comprehensive remedy to rectify the regional imbalance. However, the right to healthcare is one of the fundamental rights of the people guaranteed by the Constitution. The government must not compromise this right faced with the resistance from vested interests. The KMA ought not to get into a struggle by taking people's life and health hostage. Instead, it should show maturity by actively cooperating to resolve the various issues facing the nation's healthcare system.