Seoul denies ties between public doctor decline and medical student increase policy

The government emphasized that its policy to increase the medical school enrollment quota is unrelated to the decrease in public health doctors.

Citing various treatment issues, including a long 36-month service period, as reasons for avoiding public health doctors, the government said it is also considering shortening the length of service.

“The continuous decline in the number of public health doctors every year has nothing to do with the recent situation caused by the medical school enrollment quota increase,” the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a news release issued on Monday.

The ministry attributed the decline to an increase in the share of female students enrolled in medical schools and a growth in the number of male medical students applying for active duty. Fewer doctors are enlisting in the military as officers.

According to data on the “Yearly status of medical officers” submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of National Defense to Rep. Choi Hye-young of the Democratic Party of Korea last year, the number of medical officers serving in the military was 771 last year, an increase of seven from 2013, while the total number of public health doctors in the medical, dental, and oriental medicine departments combined was 3,175, a decrease of 701 from a decade ago.

In particular, the number of public health doctors in the medical department decreased from 2,411 in 2013 to 1,432 in 2023, a decrease of 979 compared to 10 years ago. The number of new public doctors fell by more than half, from 851 to 449, over the same period. As a result, the number of public health centers and branches without a public doctor is also increasing.

Moreover, public health doctors are being assigned to training hospitals due to the resignation of trainee doctors in protest of the policy to increase the number of medical students, exacerbating the medical workforce shortage in vulnerable rural areas.

In response, the government plans to devise measures to resolve the shortage of public health workers at public health centers and their branches while consulting with relevant ministries to shorten the service period of public health workers and improve their salary system as fundamental solutions.

“We are working to minimize medical gaps by strengthening itinerant medical treatment and allowing non-face-to-face medical care for a limited time to resolve the shortage of medical personnel at public health centers,” the Health and Welfare Ministry said.

The ministry added that it would continuously consult with other ministries, including the Ministry of Defense and the Military Manpower Administration to shorten the service period of public health doctors and improve their salary system.