The Korea Institute for Medical Education and Evaluation (KIME) announced on the 13th that it conducted an evaluation of major changes for 30 medical colleges and has given a 'deferred non-accreditation' judgment to three schools, including Chungbuk, Wonkwang, and Ulsan Medical Colleges.
The universities that received the deferred non-accreditation must address the deficiencies in evaluation standards within one year and undergo re-evaluation. If they receive a non-accreditation judgment in the re-evaluation, they will not be able to recruit new students for the next year.
KIME determined that these three medical colleges have not adequately equipped their facilities and personnel in anticipation of increasing enrollment. The enrollment for Chungbuk National University Medical College will increase from 49 students last year to 125 this year, while Wonkwang University will go from 93 to 150. Ulsan University's enrollment will rise from 40 to 110.
Under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, KIME is an institution created by the medical education community to evaluate and accredit domestic medical education curricula. The major change evaluation occurs when university enrollment increases by more than 10%. In addition, regular evaluations are conducted periodically, along with mid-term evaluations that occur in between.
The Ministry of Education noted, "We respect KIME's autonomous and independent judgment" and said, "We will support to ensure that students of the affected universities do not suffer any harm."