South Korea said today its medical schools will accept almost 1,500 additional students next year, pressing ahead with an admissions hike that has caused trainee doctors across the country to go on strike. — Reuters picSEOUL, May 30 — South Korea said today its medical schools will accept almost 1,500 additional students next year, pressing ahead with an admissions hike that has caused trainee doctors across the country to go on strike.
Groups representing doctors counter that the hike will lower the quality of education and that the move will not motivate doctors to work in remote areas or less popular fields of practice. The government should instead prioritise better pay and working conditions, they say. The Korean Medical Association, which represents private practitioners, said it would stage protests in multiple cities Thursday night to raise awareness of the risks posed by the admissions hike.