A doctor’s gown is left in a lecture room at a medical school in Daegu. Photo = Yonhap News Most fourth-year students about to graduate are expected to take a leave of absence. As a large number of fourth-year students who had to take the national doctor’s exam this year are taking a leave of absence, it is expected that there will be a disruption in the supply of doctors next year.
According to the education community on the 3rd, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University approved leave of absence for medical students. Some national universities, such as Gyeongsang National University and Chungbuk National University, also announced a policy of approving leave of absence for students who submitted leave of absence reports, and the remaining universities are expected to accept leave of absence reports by the end of this month.
It is known that universities have approved or will approve all submitted leave of absence reports unless there are special reasons. Accordingly, it is expected that a significant number of fourth-year students will take leave of absence from school. According to the Ministry of Education, as of July 22, only 104, or 3.4%, of the 3,088 fourth-year students enrolled in the department attended. The rest appear to be almost all people who submitted leave of absence reports.
If this is the case, it is a given that there will be a setback in producing doctors next year. Medical school graduates who have completed the clinical training period (a total of 52 weeks, 36 hours per week for 2 years) or those scheduled to graduate within 6 months can receive a license when they pass the national examination. Typically, the practical exam is held in September to October, followed by the written exam in January of the following year.
However, due to the refusal of 4th year students in the department to take classes and leave of absence, they were unable to obtain the status of those expected to graduate next year and were unable to complete the practicum period. There was some talk that additional exams within the year might be possible if fourth-year students in the department returned early, but that is not possible at the moment.
347 people took the final exam for the national medical exam held in September this year. It was only one-tenth of the previous year. The number of people who passed the national medical examination, which was about 3,000 every year, is also expected to decrease to less than one-tenth.
There are concerns that the ripple effect of the disruption in doctor manpower training could last not only next year but also into the next few years. After passing the national medical exam, many people go on to a residency training program of one year as an intern and three to four years as a resident. First of all, the supply and demand for these residents is affected.
After completing all residency training, you must take a specialist exam to obtain qualifications as a specialist in a specific subject. Naturally, the supply of specialists is bound to decrease. In the end, as the number of people passing the national doctor’s exam next year decreases sharply, it will inevitably have the negative effect of reducing the supply of specialists by more than 2,000 people in the next 4 to 5 years.
The Ministry of Education plans to monitor the situation until the end of this month, when each university’s approval for leave of absence for medical students is finalized. Afterwards, it is expected that measures will be sought to reduce the ‘punk’ period as much as possible.
Lee Song-ryeol, Hankyung.com reporter yisr0203@hankyung.com
