With the National Assembly’s regular session approaching, political circles are voicing for more state-run medical schools while the government emphasizes consensus with the medical community.
Both ruling and opposition lawmakers are pushing for new public medical schools.
However, regarding the location, they cite various parts of the peninsula – Mokpo and Suncheon in South Jeolla Province, Namwon in North Jeolla Province, Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, and Andong in North Gyeongsang Province.
At a meeting of the parliament’s National Policy Committee on Tuesday, Rep. Kim Sung-joo of the opposition Democratic Party said the government should establish a national medical graduate school in Namwon, North Jeolla Province.
Kim noted that physicians in essential public healthcare were in extreme shortage, although plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and small clinic owner doctors were in excess in Korea.
“As the previous government pushed for a medical graduate school in Namwon, a related bill was submitted to the National Assembly, and land purchase is in progress,” Kim said.
He emphasized that there was already enough quota for medical school admissions, referring to the 49 admission quotas incurred by the closing of Seonam University College of Medicine in Namwon in 2018.
Kim asked Bang Moon-kyu, Minister for Government Policy Coordination, until the government intended to delay securing more doctors for essential public health services.
Bang replied that the government would discuss the issue with the medical community.
“We are discussing it with the medical community, under the premise that the nation needs more manpower in essential healthcare,” Bang said. “Establishing a national medical graduate school is one of the government’s national tasks. Therefore, we will reach an agreement with the medical community and complete it.”
Kim pointed out that it was urgent to nurture professionals to deal with newly emerging infectious diseases while dialogue with the medical community was difficult due to Covid-19.
He said unless the government becomes proactive, the problem of the shortage in essential care will keep occurring.
“The government should establish a clear plan and push for it,” he said.
Bang said it usually takes about 10 years to nurture a specialist. “This is a long-term measure that requires a lot of preparations, we will consult with doctors swiftly and prepare in advance,” he said.
Kim’s push is based on the Moon Jae-in government’s plan to establish a state-run medical school.
The Democratic Party, then the ruling party, agreed with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in April 2018 to set up a national medical graduate school in Namwon.
A controversy erupted when media reports revealed that the health and welfare ministry ordered Namwon City in December 2018 to purchase land near Namwon Medical Hospital for a new medical school. Namwon City reportedly secured 28,944㎡ of land, about 44 percent of a site allocated for establishing a new medical school.
A bill to establish a national medical school was scrapped due to the expiration of the 20th National Assembly session. However, a similar bill was proposed again in the 21st National Assembly session.
The latest bill aims to establish state-run medical schools within national universities for each region.
Rep. Kim Hyung-dong of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), who proposed the bill, had promised to help establish a state-run medical school in his electoral district of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.
Rep. Kim Won-i of the Democratic Party expressed his strong will to set up a medical school in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. Accordingly, a bill on the “Special Act on Establishment of National Mokpo University College of Medicine” has been referred to the National Assembly Education Committee’s bill review sub-committee.
In a news conference in Mokpo on Monday, Kim said he applied for the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee in the second half to push for his bill.
Rep. So Byung-chul of the Democratic Party proposed a bill to establish a medical school in South Jeolla Province and nurture physicians for public healthcare. Rep. Kang Gi-yun of the PPP proposed a bill to establish a college of medicine within Changwon National University in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, and Rep. Jeon Bong-min of the PPP, a bill to set up a radiology medical school.