Forty medical schools nationwide will submit a final report to the government on the status of medical student failures and expulsions on the 7th. The number of students facing failure is expected to be over 10,000, while expulsions are expected to be at a lower level. Although students can continue attending classes despite failing, those expelled have effectively been dismissed and cannot return. Whether students can maintain their status as medical students is determining the return of those facing failure and expulsion.
According to school regulations, if medical students attend only a third or a quarter of classes, they receive an F grade and fail. If failures accumulate multiple times, they face expulsion. The medical schools of Soonchunhyang University, Eulji University, Inje University, and Konyang University, along with the College of Medicine at CHA University, expel students who have more than one month of unexcused absences, regardless of their failing status. There are also cases where students are expelled for failing to pay tuition, resulting in expulsion for failure to register.
In response, medical students are showing mixed reactions. Seven out of ten medical students nationwide are still not returning to class. Most of them believe that it is better to maintain a unified front and negotiate with the next government than to return to classes as they face failure. After all, even if they fail, their advancement will only be delayed, and they can take all their classes at once next year.
Conversely, most medical students at risk of expulsion are reported to be returning. Medical schools typically allow re-admission if there are vacancies. However, this time, instead of re-admission, they are expected to fill vacancies through transfer admissions, meaning that once students are expelled, they cannot return. A government official noted, "Once expelled, it's over," adding that "medical students at risk of expulsion are known to be participating in current classes."
Earlier this month, the medical schools of Soonchunhyang University (606 students), Eulji University (299 students), Inje University (557 students), Konyang University (264 students), and the College of Medicine at CHA University (190 students) notified 1,916 students who had more than one month of unexcused absences that they were scheduled for expulsion. In the end, most medical students from Soonchunhyang University, Konyang University, and Eulji University decided to return to class. It is reported that only a few students nationwide are at risk of expulsion for failure to register.
Earlier, the national medical schools notified students to return by midnight on the 30th of last month. The national medical schools are expected to confirm those facing failure and expulsion by 6 p.m. that day and submit it to the Ministry of Education. The government is likely to announce the specific scale of vacancies as early as the 9th.
The government and universities believe that if they establish a basic plan for transfer admissions by October, they can fill the vacancies of medical students through transfers early next year. Typically, universities determine the scale of transfers based on the level of educational conditions (1 to 6), but this time, due to the vacancies of medical students, it is expected that they will accept transfer students regardless of the level. The government has a policy of not canceling failures and expulsions.