Suncheon National University confirms establishment of a medical school with a quota of 60 students... Expected improvement in medical infrastructure

With the establishment of a medical school with a capacity of 60 students at Suncheon National University, the medical infrastructure in the eastern region of Gwangju, South Jeolla Province is expected to improve.

With the establishment of a national medical school in Jeollanam-do, which was the only metropolitan government in the country except Sejong before the administrative integration of Jeollanam-do and Gwangju, it is expected to significantly strengthen the training of local medical personnel and the essential and emergency medical care system.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 4th that they would select Suncheon National University and Kyungkuk National University in Gyeongbuk as regions and universities to establish new regional medical schools and allocate 60 and 40 medical school seats, respectively.

Jeonnam Gwangju Special City requested the Jeonnam Research Institute for review and recommended Suncheon National University as a candidate university for medical school on August 30.

The government reviewed the plan for establishing a new local medical school submitted by local governments and selected a new medical school after requesting additional data and requesting external legal advice.

In particular, in the case of Gwangju City, Jeollanam-do, where controversy arose during the candidate university recommendation process, the adequacy was intensively reviewed by checking explanation materials several times, directly explaining the recommendations by the person in charge of reviewing the recommendations at the planning group meeting, and providing external legal advice on all pointed matters.

As Suncheon National University has been selected as the university to establish a medical school, Jeonnam Gwangju Metropolitan City plans to promote the establishment of a medical school by forming a 'city/province-university regional medical school establishment promotion group' in which universities, experts, etc. participate.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Welfare also plan to jointly establish and provide support for the establishment of a local medical school.

Previously, Gwangju City in South Jeolla Province established a regional health and medical innovation headquarters and a public medical innovation promotion group under it, and began building a local public medical system.

Although Suncheon National University was selected as a new medical school, opposition from Mokpo University and the southwestern region, which were eliminated from the review, is still continuing.

On September 4, Mokpo University filed a lawsuit against Jeonnam Gwangju Unified Special Mayor Min Hyeong-bae to cancel the selection and recommendation of candidate universities and filed an application for suspension of execution.

The court dismissed the application for suspension of execution on the 2nd of last month.

However, Mokpo University stated that this decision did not determine the substantive legality of the evaluation process and that it would respond to the lawsuit on the merits and request an independent verification from the Ministry of Education.

Political backlash continues. Rep. Kim Won-i of the Democratic Party of Korea went on an indefinite hunger strike on the 30th of last month, demanding that the Ministry of Education conduct a direct review, including at Mokpo University.

On the 3rd, the emergency response committee of medical schools in the southwestern region of Gwangju, Jeollanam-do held a press conference in front of the Blue House and requested full disclosure of the review data and evaluation basis for the candidate university recommendation process, independent verification, and reexamination from the original point, including Mokpo University.

Gwangju City, South Jeolla Province, plans to expand medical infrastructure, including establishing university hospital-level medical institutions in the southwestern region, including Mokpo, which does not have a medical school.

The integrated city launched the Southwest Region Development Strategy TF, which consists of four task forces for medical system construction, regional development, SOC, and university support, led by Executive Mayor Hwang Ki-yeon.

The main review task is to expand essential and public medical functions, such as building a base hospital in Mokpo with the capacity to treat severe diseases at the level of a university hospital.

Securing medical staff in vulnerable areas such as cancer, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, severe trauma, children, and childbirth and providing cutting-edge medical equipment are also mentioned as tasks.

Mokpo University plans to specialize and strengthen its medical education and research base. The plan is to consult with the government to elicit support at the national level.

However, the specific project scale, financial resources, and implementation schedule have not been confirmed, so preparing an effective implementation plan remains a task.

An official from Gwangju City, South Jeolla Province said, “We expect that the establishment of Suncheon National University Medical School will improve the medical infrastructure in poor areas,” and added, “We will resolve medical gaps and support local residents to receive quality medical services where they live.”