Freshmen at medical schools join boycott

Medical students who left school in protest against the government's policy to increase student quota have not returned for over a year. Most freshmen joining university for the new academic year did not attend class. Pressured by senior students' demands to participate in the boycott, most freshmen are not showing up in class either. As most medical school regulations do not allow first-year med students to take a leave of absence, there is a high risk of students facing disadvantages such as repeating a grade.

Some freshmen, however, attended class, convinced by the school administration’s warnings that “freshmen cannot take a leave of absence and may be disadvantaged, such as repeating a grade in the future.” Still, considering the medical school culture, the students who participated in classes appeared to be concerned that they might be ostracized. “There will be no academic flexibility (approval for medical students to take leave of absence) this year. We will investigate whether the university follows school rules (repeating grades, etc.),” announced the Ministry of Education in a briefing on Tuesday of medical school deans, also called for students to return to school.


Ye-Na Choi yena@donga.com