40% regular support for local talent at local medical schools… Chi, herbal medicine, medicine, water decreases

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Bo-ram = In the 2027 college admissions rolling recruitment, the number of applicants for local talent and local doctor system screening at local medical schools increased by more than 40% compared to last year.

On the 11th, Jongno Academy analyzed the status of applications for the 2027 rolling admissions regional talent and local doctor system at local 'medical, dental, oriental medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary schools' universities. As a result, the number of applicants for 27 medical schools was 15,775.

There was a sharp increase of 4,528 (40.3%) compared to last year when there were 11,247 people.

On the other hand, the number of applicants to eight local dental schools was 2,348, a decrease of 8.5% from the previous year.

The number of 10 oriental medical schools decreased by 7.3% to 3,495 students, the number of 21 pharmacy schools decreased by 17.4% to 5,523 students, and the eight veterinary schools decreased by 13.5% to 1,129 students.

Jongno Academy analyzed that this was the result of the introduction of the regional doctor system, which resulted in students with top grades in the region applying intensively to medical schools rather than dental schools, oriental medical schools, pharmacy schools, and veterinary schools.

The total number of applicants for the local talent/regional doctor system in these five fields was 28,270, a 10.5% increase from the previous year (25,573).

This is a 39.4% increase compared to the 2022 school year (1,284 students).

This is the second largest among the six recent academic years, following the 2025 academic year (34,347 students) when the medical school quota was expanded.

By region, Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk had the highest number of people at 7,734, followed by Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (6,668), Daegu and Gyeongbuk (6,371), Chungcheong (5,283), Gangwon (1,914), and Jeju (300).

When calculated based on 994 local general high schools, the average number of applications per school was 28.4, an increase from 20.4 in the 2022 school year.

Daegu and Gyeongbuk had the most cases with an average of 34.1 cases per school, followed by Honam (33.6 cases), Chungcheong (28.1 cases), and Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam (23.6 cases).

Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, predicted, "In the 2028 school year, the selection scale for local medical schools will increase by 25.1% from 466 this year to 583, and the 5-grade system will be applied, so more applicants may flock to the local talent and regional doctor system selection process."

He also predicted, “There is a possibility that there will be a change in the acceptance criteria as graduates with top grades take the medical school entrance exam again and more current students apply to medical school.”