A South Korean plan to greatly increase medical school seats has helped prompt more top students to enroll for exam-prep studies to become doctors — over the once sure-fire bet of trying to become engineers who make semiconductors.
The operators at some of the nation’s largest cram schools have set up new courses for those looking to take exams in November to enter a university medical program next year, when South Korea plans to increase the number of slots by 2,000 from 3,058 to alleviate a shortage of doctors.
“When students think about their lives after graduation, their preference lies with medical schools,” said Lim Sung-ho, head of one of South Korea’s biggest cram schools, the Jongro Hagwon Academy.
The number of med school applicants is expected to increase to 15,851 next year from 9,532 this year, Jongro Academy said.
For those already in the mix, many are rejecting entry into South Korea’s top engineering schools that virtually guarantee jobs at Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc, enticed by what many see as better job security and higher pay in the medical field.
“Although the government is implementing policies to foster the semiconductor industry, it is failing to provide students with prospects for mid to long-term career paths,” Lim said.
Data showed that 26 percent of students admitted into the computer engineering department of Seoul National University (SNU) for this academic year did not enroll in the first round of regular admissions, while no one gave up their spots in the medical school at the nation’s top public university, SNU’s Web site says.
At two other top institutions, Yonsei University and Korea University, 71 percent of students rejected initial offers for entry into departments offering majors in semiconductors, displays and smart mobility, up from 38 percent who did so last year, their data showed.
Entry into these departments is all but certain to lead to jobs at partnered companies, such as Samsung and SK Hynix.
South Korean doctors, who rank in the developed world as some of the highest-paid relative to average workers, are threatening to walk off the job in protest over the plan to add more physicians. About 2,700 interns and residents at five major general hospital groups said they would submit resignation letters on Monday and walk off the job yesterday.
South Korean medical schools are primarily undergraduate programs that offer a six-year curriculum. They have often lost out on top talent due to the limited number of seats, which has remained unchanged for nearly two decades. This has helped keep the number of doctors in the country relatively low compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, while wages have remained relatively high.
The annual average gross income of self-employed specialists was 6.8 times more than that of the average worker in South Korea as of 2021, which is widest gap among OECD member countries, data from the organization showed.
There is also more job security in the medical field. The average age that South Korean workers can be forced into retirement is 49.4, while self-employed doctors have no mandatory retirement age, data from the South’s Statistics Korea showed.
The public also approves of the plan to increase the number of doctors, polling data have shown.
A weekly tracking survey released by Gallup Korea on Friday showed that 76 percent of respondents had positive views of the government’s plan, while only 16 percent saw it as negative. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating also rebounded to 33 percent from a nine-month low of 29 percent two weeks ago as he stood his ground on the medical school issue.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday said that the government would fully expand telemedicine if doctors start walking off the job.
Over the weekend, Han urged doctors to refrain from the collective labor action, as it could jeopardize lives, adding that the government would respond firmly and in accordance with laws if they launched a labor action.
Yonsei Severance, one of the country’s largest hospital groups, is adjusting its surgery schedules after trainee doctors at the facility submitted their resignation letters with plans to walk off the job on Monday, Yonhap News agency said.
The government in theory is able to use the Medical Services Act to revoke the licenses of doctors over prolonged labor actions that threaten the healthcare system.
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