Colleges and universities have agreed to find a way to allow medical students in danger of failing to return to classes for the second semester.

According to the medical community, the Council of Presidents for the Advancement of Medical Colleges, a group comprising 40 medical schools, reached this conclusion on Thursday after discussing how to standardize medical education.

They plan to continue with the failing process, but students who wish to take classes in the second semester will be relieved by changes to the academic rules. Returning students will have to use seasonal semesters and weekends to catch up with their classes. In this way, when the first and second semesters of pre-med students are promoted as scheduled in March next year, the concern of “tripling”-- students from three different academic years taking classes together -- will be resolved to some extent.

However, additional measures will be necessary for students in the main course, who must fulfill the hospital training schedule and meet the National Medical Examination requirements.

There is a proposal to allow fourth-year students to graduate in August after completing their practicum days. In this case, they would have to take an “additional medical examination.” The council stated that it will consult with the Ministry of Education in this regard to finalize the normalization measures.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education issued a notice from its spokesperson's office, stating that it "sincerely welcomes the decision of medical students to return to school" and "will prepare educational plans for returning students together with universities."

"Universities will prepare a plan to ensure that students who return to school can receive a fulfilling education in consideration of the educational conditions and academic situation, and the government will provide administrative and financial support," the ministry said. “The specific timing and method of return is a matter that requires sufficient discussion and review between universities and relevant government agencies."