Government returns medical student quota to pre-increase level of 3,058

교육부, 내년도 의대 모집인원 '3천58명' 동결 확정

The government is reversing its earlier expansion of medical school seats in a bid to resolve its protracted standoff with current students and junior doctors.
Byeon Ye-young explains.

The government announced on Thursday that the 2026 medical school enrollment quota will be returned to the 2024 level of 3,058 students.


“We will push for a legal amendment to allow universities to adjust their 2026 medical school enrollment quotas to 2024 levels.”


Last year, the government raised the quota by 2,000 to 5,058, but doctors and medical students strongly opposed the move, alleging it would hurt training conditions.
This led to a wave of leaves of absence among medical students, resulting in a significant gap in their medical education.

Presidents of 40 medical schools proposed that the government restore the original quota for 2026 admissions if all first-year students returned to class.
The government accepted the proposal on March 7th but only if a sufficient number of students to ensure classes could proceed without disruption returned by the end of March.
A surge in last-minute enrollments at the so-called "Big 5" medical schools led to that number being achieved.

While many former students returned, a number opted to “register but not attend.”
So even after reversing the quota increase, the government still has more to do to get these students back to classes and resolve the healthcare workforce shortage.
This raises questions about the future of medical education.


"We need to predict how the healthcare landscape will change 10 to 20 years from now, and based on that vision, we should determine how many medical professionals we need and what kind of education they should receive.”

Universities are now required to submit revised admissions plans that reflect the updated quota to the Korean Council for University Education (KCUE) by the end of this month. The proposed changes will then be reviewed and finalized following KCUE approval, expected around May.

Byeon Ye-young,
Arirang news.

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2025-04-17, 17:00 (KST)