Politics · South Korea · 22 hrs ago
Applications to regional medical schools in South Korea rise 40%
Applications to regional medical-school programs in South Korea rose 40.3% for 2027 admissions compared with the year before.
The programs are for students from outside Seoul, and some are part of a new regional-doctor system.
Under that system, students receive financial support and must work in the region for a set period after qualifying as doctors.
Applications to regional dentistry, Korean medicine, pharmacy and veterinary programs fell over the same period.
An education company said the new system may have drawn more high-achieving regional students toward medical schools.
Across all five fields, applications increased by 10.5%.
The company expects more applicants in 2028, when it says regional medical-school places will expand and a new grading system will apply.
Applications to regional medical-school admissions tracks in South Korea rose 40.3% for the 2027 academic year, compared with the previous year.
The 27 regional medical schools recorded 15,775 applications, up from 11,247.
Applications to regional tracks at dental, traditional Korean medicine, pharmacy and veterinary schools fell.
The analysis by Jongno Academy attributed the medical-school increase to the introduction of a regional doctor system.
The system selects students with ties to a region and requires them to work there for a set period after qualifying.
- Who
- Applicants to regional admissions tracks at South Korean medical schools.
- What
- Applications rose 40.3% for the 2027 academic year, while applications to regional tracks at several other health-related fields declined.
- When
- For the 2027 academic year; the figures were reported on October 11, 2026.
- Where
- Regional medical schools in South Korea.
- Why
- Jongno Academy said the new regional doctor system drew regional applicants toward medical schools.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
In the 2028 academic year, the number of regional doctor places at regional medical schools will expand by 25.1%, from 466 this year to 583, and the five-grade high school grading system will also apply, so more applicants may flock to regional talent and regional doctor admissions tracks.
Top-performing graduates may try again for medical-school admission, and more current students may also apply to medical schools, potentially changing admission cutoffs.
Applications opened for the first university admissions track selecting regional doctors.
Yonhap reported that applications to regional medical-school tracks rose 40.3% for the 2027 academic year.
- Medical-school applications
- 15,775, up from 11,247
- Year-on-year increase
- 4,528 applications, or 40.3%
- Dental-school applications
- 2,348, down 8.5%
- Traditional Korean medicine applications
- 3,495, down 7.3%
- Regional doctor places
- 490 in the 2027 academic year, according to the article’s description of the system
Sources
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