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.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS