The number of students who left after enrolling in regional medical, dental, Korean medicine, and pharmacy colleges over the past three years due to withdrawals or taking a second attempt has doubled. Analysts say "chain departures" are intensifying as movement within medical-related fields becomes more active.
According to Jongro Academy on the 20th, a total of 1,525 students dropped out mid-course from 63 regional medical, dental, Korean medicine, and pharmacy colleges between 2022 and 2024.
By year, the numbers rose each year to 359 in 2022, 435 in 2023, and 731 in 2024. In two years, the number of mid-course dropouts roughly doubled.
Based on the 2025 disclosure, mid-course dropouts from regional medical, dental, Korean medicine, and pharmacy colleges in 2024 (731) amounted to 17.9% of the freshman intake (4,092). Roughly 1 out of 6 students either halted their studies or transferred.
By field, pharmacy had the highest mid-course dropout rate at 22.4%, followed by Korean medicine at 20.8%, dentistry at 17.6%, and medicine at 14.8%.
For medical schools, Jeju was highest at 30.0%, followed by Gangwon at 18.1%, Honam at 15.7%, and Chungcheong at 13.9%. Dentistry saw a relatively high mid-course dropout rate in the Chungcheong region (23.9%), while Korean medicine was higher in Gangwon (24.2%) and Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (24.0%). In pharmacy, more than 30% dropped out mid-course at 6 of 21 schools.
Im Seong-ho, head of Jongro Academy, said, "The increase in mid-course dropouts is tied to the concentration on medical schools," noting, "There are more cases of students moving from medical schools to higher-tier or capital-area medical schools, or from dentistry, Korean medicine, and pharmacy to medicine or higher-tier medical-related programs."
He added, "The expansion of medical school enrollment for the 2027 academic year and the introduction of a regional doctor system will further accelerate this trend," and said, "As preference for medical schools spreads beyond medicine to the broader medical-related fields, the administrative burden on regional universities could also grow."