Minister Jeong "Regional·essential healthcare doctor system"

Newly increased quota of medical personnel will be allocated to the regional and essential healthcare sectors

The 3rd meeting of the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee…"Statistics from the Estimation Committee represent the best possible outcome"

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun Kyeong

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun Kyeong stated, "The results of the Medical Personnel Supply and Demand Estimation Committee, while subject to realistic constraints, are the best possible outcome based on currently predictable data and a consensus-driven process."

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) reaffirmed its position that the newly increased medical workforce will be dedicated exclusively to personnel working in regional and essential healthcare sectors.

Minister Jeong made these remarks during the 3rd meeting of the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee held at the International Electronics Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at 4 p.m. on the 13th.

The meeting discussed detailed plans for the deliberation criteria for the scale of medical personnel training from 2027, following the 1st meeting held on December 29 last year.

First, the committee reconfirmed its agreement for the estimation results of the Medical Personnel Supply and Demand Estimation Committee (the Estimation Committee). The Estimation Committee, composed of a majority of members recommended by provider organizations, held 12 rounds of discussions.

The meeting discussed the 1st deliberation criterion from the 1st meeting, focusing on resolving regional healthcare disparities and shortages of essential and public medical personnel. Specifically, the committee discussed a plan to apply the increase in medical personnel quota after 2027 to the quota for the regional doctor system.

Furthermore, it was decided to consider the scale and timing of graduates resulting from the establishment of a "Public Medical Training School" (tentative name) and the creation of new medical schools in regions currently without them.

The committee will also consider the second and third deliberation criteria, detailing future changes in the medical environment and healthcare policy shifts, by including all combinations of the three demand models and two supply models adopted by the Estimation Committee.

Regarding the fourth criterion, related to ensuring the quality of medical education, the committee explored ways to keep the fluctuation rate of the 2027 admission quota within a certain level compared to the 2026 recruitment (3,058 students total) and to ensure that small-scale medical schools can secure an appropriate number of students for education.

The committee also decided to consider the reality that students from the 2024 and 2025 classes are currently attending lectures together.

For the final criterion, related to ensuring predictability and stability, the committee discussed applying the quota based on the 2025 estimate for five years from 2027 to 2031, in line with the mandatory five-year cycle for supply and demand estimation.

Given that students entering during this period will graduate over five years from 2033 to 2037, 2037 was set as the base year for supply and demand management. The plan for the next estimation, to be conducted in 2029, was reviewed, taking into account the timing of the next quota application (the 2032 academic year) and the advance notice system for university admissions.

The Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee plans to incorporate the results of these discussions on the application of deliberation criteria and submit training scale proposals for multiple scenarios at the next meeting.

Minister Jeong stated, "We plan to review the scale of the medical workforce after 2027 based on the estimation results. In today's meeting," adding, "we will discuss agendas to detail the deliberation criteria applied to the various estimation results derived from the demand and supply models presented by the Estimation Committee."

Minister Jeong added, "The most important principle is that the ultimate goal of discussing the scale of the medical workforce is to strengthen regional, essential, and public healthcare, which is currently in crisis," and stressed that, "We must also consider upcoming policy changes, such as the legislation for training and supporting regional doctors and the special law for strengthening essential healthcare and resolving regional medical gaps, which is currently awaiting passage in the National Assembly."

Minister Jeong concluded, "We have previously failed to apply crucial deliberation criteria such as the qualitative level of medical education, the situation at educational sites, and sufficient predictability for those sites to train high-quality medical personnel," adding, "Through thorough discussion in today's meeting, we plan to refine further the review criteria presented in the first meeting."