Health ministry advances national medical graduate school plan

The health ministry said Thursday it had stepped up planning for a national medical graduate school by agreeing to establish expert panels, part of a state-led effort to address staffing shortages in regional, essential and public healthcare.

At its second meeting in Seoul, the preparatory committee agreed to establish four panels covering infrastructure, curriculum, operating systems and mandatory service. The committee also reviewed the first meeting's results and a proposed revision to its operating rules following a ministry reorganization.

The panels will include outside specialists and officials from relevant ministries. The ministry plans to form the infrastructure and curriculum groups first. The infrastructure panel will examine the school's prospective site, design and construction plans, while the curriculum panel will prepare for medical education accreditation and review a public-healthcare-focused curriculum.

"Establishing the expert panels will bring detailed discussions in each field into full swing and speed preparations for the school's establishment," Lee Hyeong-hun, the health ministry's second vice minister and chair of the preparatory committee, said. He added that he would "carefully oversee each preparatory step in every field" for a 2029 opening and a 2030 start to the curriculum.

The ministry said it will decide the school's location after deliberations by the preparatory committee and the panels. The project is being pursued under the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the National Medical Graduate School, enacted on May 26, 2026. The ministry will continue preparations for an enforcement decree and enforcement rules covering detailed operations, with public notice running from July 21 through Aug. 31.