Gyeongsangbuk-do medical school establishment efforts inspected

National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Lee Man-hee and Representative Lee Dal-hee visited National Gyeongguk University in Andong to inspect the progress of establishing a regional medical school in Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Gyeongsangbuk-do is currently pursuing a plan to build a national medical school with a capacity of 100 students and an affiliated 500-bed hospital in the Andong-Yecheon provincial government new city area. The province aims to open the school by 2030, implementing a regional physician system that requires 10 years of mandatory service and recruits all students from the local area.

The initiative addresses a severe medical disparity: Gyeongsangbuk-do has only 0.36 essential medical specialists per 1,000 people, which is approximately 12% of Seoul’s rate of 3.02. Specific shortages are critical in pediatrics (0.02), emergency medicine, neurology, and neurosurgery (0.01). Additionally, the province lacks a tertiary general hospital, resulting in a patient transfer rate to the Seoul metropolitan area that is 15 times the national average.