The government is likely to announce the possible increase in the medial school enrollment quota as early as next week in an effort to address problems stemming from the shortage of doctors despite strong opposition from the medical circle, officials said Friday.

If decided, it will be the first hike of the medical school enrollment quota in 19 years. The current limit stood at 3,058.

The government is pushing to raise the quota, and the new limit could grow by as much as 2,000, with details to be available around Thursday, according to government and industry officials.

“The government will raise the number of medical school students starting in 2025 by at least 1,000. The number could be over 2,000 given future demand and schools’ education capacity,” an official said.

Along with the potential quota increase, the government plans to announce a set of measures that aims to encourage doctors to major in essential medical fields and serve in non-metropolitan and other remote regions that have particularly
seen a decrease in the number of medical staff.

The number of doctors per 1,000 people in South Korea came to 5.6, far below the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member nations, according to the health ministry.

Doctors have opposed the government’s plan, claiming that the quota hike will compromise the quality of medical education and services and that the government should find other ways to better allocate physicians and boost compensation.

Source: Yonhap News Agency