The government is likely to allocate 20 percent of the increased medical school enrollment quota to schools in the capital area and the remaining 80 percent to those outside the capital region, an informed source said Thursday. The government is in the final stages of making allocations based on its plan to raise the annual admission quota by 2,000 starting next year, up from the current 3,058. The plan has faced strong resistance from doctors' groups, with more than 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors walking off the job in protest. "There is no change in the basic policy of increasing the medical school quota for the sake of medical reform," a presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. "Accordingly, we will move forward with follow-up measures without wavering." The plan to increase medical school admissions is designed to address a shortage of doctors in rural areas and in essential medical fields, such as pediatrics and neurosurgery. It also falls under the government's broader med ical reform initiative, which aims to lower the high dependence on the top five hospitals in Seoul by nurturing medical schools and hospitals in the provinces. Details of the final plan are expected to be completed next month. Source: Yonhap News Agency
