This year, 1 in 5 of the final successful candidates in the national medical examination was a graduate from a foreign university. The number of domestic medical school graduates who applied and the total number of successful candidates have remained at about 10% of the usual level, indicating that the medical crisis is expected to continue for the time being.
According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Rep. Jeon Jin-sook of the Democratic Party on the 26th, the final number of successful candidates in the 89th national medical examination announced on the 22nd was 269, of which 52 graduated from foreign medical schools. The number of successful candidates from international universities accounted for 19.3% of the total.
By country, there were 39 graduates from Hungarian medical schools, the highest number. There were 1 to 2 candidates from major countries such as the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
The number of successful candidates from foreign medical schools has more than doubled compared to last year. Recently, the proportion of candidates from foreign medical schools in the national medical examination was only around 1%.
In contrast, the number of successful candidates from domestic medical schools has significantly decreased. Since last year, there has been a conflict between the government and the medical community regarding the increase in medical school admissions, leading to a sharp drop in applicants.
This year, there were 3,200 candidates expected to take the national medical examination, including 4th year medical students and those who failed the previous year's exam, but only about 10% actually participated. This is because most of the 4th year students, who make up the majority of the applicants, collectively took a leave of absence and did not take the exam.
With the number of successful candidates in the national medical examination falling significantly below the usual level, the medical gap is expected to be prolonged. Each training hospital plans to recruit interns in the first half of this year from successful candidates of the national medical examination and last year's interns who resigned.