The Executive Yuan yesterday decided to maintain the total medical student enrollment quota at 1,300 per year, following a backlash from civil associations over an earlier plan to increase it.
Last month, the Ministry of Education unveiled a plan to change the annual government-funded student enrollment quota for post-baccalaureate medical departments of three universities from 23 to 35 self-funded students each.
The three universities are: National Tsing Hua University, National Chung Hsing University and National Sun Yat-sen University.
Photo: CNA
The ministry also planned to remove the medical student enrollment quota of the National Defense Medical Center (NDMC) from the total medical student quota.
Currently, the total medical student enrollment quota is capped at 1,300 per year, but the ministry’s plan could increase it to about 1,600 per year.
Eleven medical associations on Thursday last week issued a joint statement, accusing the ministry of contravening the total quota control principle, and saying that the problem is not a shortage of physicians, but an uneven distribution of them in hospital departments.
On Sunday, 29 medical associations led by the Taiwan Medical Association issued a joint statement, expressing their opposition to the plan.
They said it has been a long-term consensus that the NDMC’s medical student enrollment quota is included in the total quota, and the quota of the post-baccalaureate medical students at the other three universities were established in 2022 under a government-funded physicians training program for key specialties.
“The cap of 1,300 people is not only a number, but a symbol of institutional balance and medical quality,” they said, adding that disrupting the system might have negative effects on people’s health.
The government cannot solve problems such as physicians’ high workload and workforce shortages in remote areas by only enrolling more medical students, which might strain educational resources and worsen training quality, they said.
The Cabinet and associations reached a consensus yesterday morning.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) held the meeting, which was also attended by Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源), Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Liu Yueh-ping (劉越萍), Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀), Department of Higher Education Director-General Liao Kao-hsien (廖高賢) and other officials.
The Taiwan Medical Association yesterday in a statement said that it strongly affirmed the Executive Yuan’s decision, thanking it for promptly holding a meeting to discuss the issue.
“The association thanks the government for being willing to listen to our voices through rational and peaceful communication and negotiation, and protecting Taiwan’s medical quality and people’s rights,” it said.
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