Seniors of the six-year medical colleges and the four-year medical graduate schools are volunteering to work at Covid-19 testing facilities to help combat the third wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Most of them lost a chance to take the state medical licensing test earlier because they had refused to take clinical exams required before the licensing test, opposing the government’s plan to increase medical school admissions.

Despite the lost chance, they said they would fulfill their duty as future doctors.

Lee Ji-hoon, the representative of the medical school students involved in the state licensing exam issue, said 184 senior students have applied for volunteering for the Covid-19 fight as of Sunday. Lee is a senior student at Chosun University College of Medicine.

The volunteering students will help collect specimens at 150 government-designated Covid-19 testing facilities. The local law states that a medical school student can practice medicine under the supervision of a physician.

“I heard the government asked for the medical community’s help for more manpower because the shortage of healthcare professionals was severe,” Lee told Korea Biomedical Review on Sunday.

As clinicians are already battling Covid-19, it would be difficult for them to work at testing facilities, he said.

“Although the government hasn’t allowed us to take the licensing exam, we discussed this issue and decided to offer medical volunteering,” he said.

Senior students are busy because they should take the written licensing exam in early January, Lee noted.

However, it was worthwhile to do what only doctors can do, and medical school students want to help doctors for the public's health despite some grudges against the government, he added.

Senior medical school students had initially planned to start volunteering from Monday, but the plan might be delayed a little, Lee said.

“I think the volunteering will start as early as Tuesday, and their job will be to collect test samples,” he said.

Some questioned that volunteering could be a students' scheme to pressure the government to give a second chance to those who did not take the licensing exam.

However, Lee said it was not true.

“We surveyed the students’ intention to join volunteering during the comprehensive clinical medical evaluation period. This evaluation affects our grades significantly, and some schools set the results as graduation requirements,” Lee said.

Many medical students decided to join volunteering with good intention even in a difficult situation, he added.

The medical community welcomed the students’ decision.

An official at the Korean Council on Medical Education said Covid-19 was a significant medical college education issue.

“An infectious disease broke, and students needed training experiences. It is good that they showed their willingness to volunteer,” he said.

“Their actions showed that they received a good medical education, and I hope their volunteering could change people’s (hostile) attitude towards senior medical students (who boycotted the licensing exam).”

He called for the government to give students a second chance to take the clinical exam, although belatedly.

“What’s best for them is to take the clinical exam in January and let them have a medical license. If not, the government should consider issuing a temporary license,” he said.

The government can give them a temporary license based on the written exam results in January, conduct the clinical exam after Covid-19 stabilizes, and issue an official license, he proposed.

If senior students have to take the exam next year, the extreme shortage of new doctors will weigh on the healthcare system too much, he said.

Even if they can take the exam with the one-year younger students, their year of the licensing exam should be recorded one year earlier to “prevent a collapse in the healthcare system,” he added.

He will suggest this idea if he has a chance to meet with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, he said.

One physician said the medical students’ volunteering was positive in many aspects.

The public seems to be still negative about giving a second chance to the students who refused to take the exam, but their volunteering could be a breakthrough, he said.