Breaking a 100-Year Tradition: The Historic Reform of Korea’s Medical Education System and Its Educational Implications

In 2024, marking the first structural change in nearly a century, South Korea revised the Enforcement Decree of the Higher Education Act, eliminating the rigid “2-year premedical and 4-year medical” structure and allowing universities to autonomously determine their medical school curricula through internal regulations. This legal change was the outcome of a 6-year collaborative effort by the Korean medical education community, involving empirical research, national surveys, policy proposals, and multi-stakeholder consensus-building since 2018. Led by the Korean Association of Medical Colleges, academic and professional societies organized structured discussions and published critical reports demonstrating an urgent need for reform. The newly revised policy provides a foundation for more flexible and integrated 6-year medical programs that align with international standards and respond to rapidly evolving societal needs. Reforms to the medical school system must extend beyond structural adjustments and become a catalyst for establishing a learner-centered educational environment that nurtures individual potential and meets changing societal expectations. The core principles of medical education must be effectively translated into practice. To ensure that reform leads to genuine educational innovation, strategic implementation is crucial. This includes revisiting institutional learning objectives, redesigning curricula, engaging stakeholders, enhancing faculty competencies, and securing administrative and financial support to promote student-centered learning.