SEOUL — An analysis has revealed that thirty-two medical schools in Korea are calling for a substantial increase in faculty, citing a need for over 4,000 additional professors by 2030 to accommodate expanding student admissions—a number that far exceeds current government plans.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the medical schools collectively require 4,301 new faculty members to handle the increased load from 2025 through 2030. This demand comes as part of the government's broader medical reform initiative, which includes boosting admission quotas by approximately 1,500 seats next year. The Ministry of Education, which collected faculty demand surveys from these institutions, has relayed these findings.
The breakdown from the surveys indicates that nine state-run medical schools have expressed a need for 2,363 new professors. In contrast, the 23 private medical schools have reported a requirement for 1,938 additional faculty. Notably, the state schools are seeking to add 421 professors in basic medical sciences and 1,942 in clinical medicine by the end of the decade.
Specifically, Jeju National University and Chungnam National University have the most significant requests for new hires in basic medical sciences for next year, with each requesting 23 additional professors. Jeju National University also leads in the demand for clinical medical professors with a request for 200 new positions next year, followed by 105 at Chungnam National University.
Currently, Pusan National University holds the highest student-to-professor ratio among state-run medical schools at 10.4. Without the hiring of new faculty, this ratio is expected to soar to 17.4 due to the increased admission quotas. The government has pledged to add about 1,000 new full-time professors over three years across state medical schools, a figure that falls significantly short of the demands made by the schools.
This substantial discrepancy in faculty needs versus government plans highlights potential challenges that state-run medical schools may encounter in maintaining educational quality amid quota expansions, as emphasized by Jin.