The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 29th that it will hold an additional sitting of the national medical licensing examination for medical school students scheduled to graduate in Aug. next year. The opportunity is being given to medical students who left school in opposition to the government's plan to expand medical school enrollment. After obtaining their medical licenses, they will train at hospitals and take on work such as emergency room care and assisting in operating rooms. The government decided this to prevent a decline in the number of new physicians.
Students scheduled to graduate in the first half of next year (Feb.) will take the practical portion of the national exam in September–October this year and the written portion in Jan. next year, as originally planned. Those scheduled to graduate in the second half of next year will take the practical in March–April and the written in July. The cohort graduating in the second half of next year numbers about 1,500, or roughly two-thirds of all fourth-year medical students. The additional exam schedule for next year will be posted on the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute website.
When medical students returned in July, the presidents' council for advancing medical schools proposed adding an extra sitting of the national exam. The ministry said it decided to do so "considering the need to ensure continuity in the process of graduating from medical school, obtaining a medical license, and training as residents, as well as the need to manage the supply of medical personnel appropriately."
Residents who resigned en masse and returned in Sept. will be able to take the specialist exam in Feb. next year. The specialist exam is held at the start of every year. Because they must train until Aug. next year, they would have had to wait until 2027, not next year, to take the specialist exam, but the government allowed an early exam to prevent disruptions in producing specialists. Residents can take the specialist exam early next year and continue their remaining training through Aug.