The next president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the only legal organization representing physicians, faces significant challenges, including discussions with the government on increasing the number of medical school admissions and addressing medical service gaps and normalizing medical education.
The election for the 43rd president of the KMA will take place over three days from the 2nd to the 4th. The candidates, in order of their symbols, are Kim Taek-woo, the president of the Gangwon Medical Association (Chairperson of the National Association of City and Provincial Medical Associations), Kang Hee-kyung, a professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine and chairperson of the emergency response committee (professor of pediatric nephrology at Seoul National University Hospital), Joo Soo-ho, representative of the Future Medical Forum (former president of the KMA), Lee Dong-wook, president of the Gyeonggi Medical Association, and Choi Anna, planning director and spokesperson of the KMA.
If no candidate receives a majority in the first round of voting, a runoff will be held between the top two candidates based on the voting percentage on the 7th and 8th of this month, with the winner to be confirmed on the 8th after the counting of votes. This election is expected to determine the future direction of the KMA's struggle with the government.
With four candidates classified as hardliners excluding Kang Hee-kyung, observations suggest that the KMA's struggle with the government is likely to intensify. Candidate Kang also strongly criticizes the government's medical school expansion policy, making immediate resolution of the situation appear difficult regardless of which candidate wins.
The urgent issues that need resolution are addressing medical service gaps and normalizing medical education. The medical service gap is expected to persist into next year. The national examination for physicians will be conducted on the 9th and 10th, but medical students opposing the increase in medical school admissions will refuse to take the exam, leading to an anticipated reduction of about 3,000 in the number of new physicians graduating next year compared to this year. Additionally, the first round of the written examination for specialty qualification is scheduled for February; however, most of the residents who left the hospitals are not returning, putting the production of specialists at risk.
Even if about 3,000 medical students on leave return next year, the problem persists. Including the 4,610 new students for next year, the number of students in the first year of the pre-medical course will exceed 7,500, more than double the existing size, raising concerns about the feasibility of proper medical education.
With the government repeatedly expressing its commitment to continue the healthcare reform that was interrupted during the impeachment crisis, discussions with the government are considered a key task.
Minister Cho Kyu-hong of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated in his New Year's address on the 31st of last month, "We will diligently pursue healthcare reform to address the medical service gap and preserve lives and communities, and we will establish an excellent workforce training system that is well understood by both the public and healthcare professionals, thereby innovating the medical delivery system and compensation structure to ensure that regional and essential healthcare is no longer marginalized."