In the midst of a deepening dispute between the Korean government and medical professionals over medical school quotas, an unprecedented number of resident doctors and medical students are turning their attention to the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), signaling a potential mass exodus to foreign opportunities.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed that as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday, a total of 8,816 resident doctors had submitted their resignations from 100 major training hospitals, with 7,813 of them having already left their positions. Additionally, the Ministry of Education reported that 7,620 medical students from 27 universities had applied for leave of absence by the same date.

A notable indicator of this trend is the crash of a popular USMLE preparation website, www.usmlekorea.com, due to excessive traffic on the very day the resignations started to kick on Tuesday.

Physicians stress that this event underscores the growing interest among Korean medical professionals in seeking opportunities abroad, as the Korean medical license is not recognized in the U.S. and requires passing the USMLE to practice medicine there.

"The exodus of doctors will now officially begin," stated a resident doctor who recently resigned from a hospital in Gyeonggi Province. "If the government increases the medical school quotas by 2,000, I believe that many doctors will seek opportunities abroad."

Given that doctors' opinions are not reflected in policy-making, and the government is targeting physicians as a public enemy even to the public, many physicians feel like it's everyman for themselves, he added.

The resident doctor emphasized that in other countries, the roles of residents and interns are primarily viewed as educational positions within hospitals, in stark contrast to Korea where the focus tends to be more on labor than education.

This sentiment is echoed across the medical community. "It's not surprising," said a senior doctor running a clinic in Seoul.

Stressing the potential for Korea to become a leading exporter of doctors, the physician stressed that "The younger generation of doctors, particularly those from the MZ generation, are disillusioned with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's aggressive policies and are dreaming of opportunities overseas."

The doctor viewed a new perspective on the submission of resignations of resident doctors and applications for leave of absence by medical students not as a collective action but as a step towards planning a new future.

"This isn't about participating in a strike, it's about taking time to plan for a new future," the doctor said, emphasizing the broader implications of the current situation.

The doctor compared the current event to the past, stating that, historically, many Korean doctors migrated to the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s, capitalizing on the U.S.'s immigration policies designed to address doctor shortages by receiving foreign doctors as citizens.

"Back then, Korea was not as advanced as it is now, and living conditions were harsh," the doctor said. "The U.S. had a high demand for foreign doctors, the pay was good, and the test was very basic as it did not require a high English proficiency."

While the number started to decrease as the tests got harder and the policy itself ended in the mid-1970s, with the high English proficiency of the MZ generation of doctors, the test itself no longer seems to be an issue, he added.

The doctor added that if many young residents and medical students leave the country because of this, he wonders if the government will eventually impose a travel ban on those who obtain their medical licenses.