![[Kim Byung-jin, head of the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province bureau]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/11/07/news-p.v1.20261107.39417e25fee24e1593be89e5001f6da1_P1.jpeg)
The establishment of a medical school at Gyeonguk National University has been confirmed. For residents of North Gyeongsang Province, it is welcome news that a long-held aspiration has finally become reality. The government on Wednesday allocated 40 enrollment slots for the medical school and announced plans to build a teaching hospital with more than 500 beds, targeting an opening in the 2030 academic year. A new starting point for healthcare in North Gyeongsang Province has been set.
Yet the creation of a medical school alone will not solve the region's healthcare problems. Constructing buildings and selecting students is only the beginning. True success depends on how many skilled and responsible doctors the school ultimately produces.
North Gyeongsang Province faces deep-seated healthcare challenges: a vast geographic area, a high proportion of elderly residents and poor medical access in rural and fishing communities. Emergency patients often cannot receive timely treatment, and severe shortages of personnel in essential fields — pediatrics, obstetrics and surgery — remain a serious concern. Every resident, regardless of where they live, should be able to receive quality medical care nearby.
To achieve that, securing the quality of medical education is just as important as increasing the number of doctors. The school must recruit outstanding faculty from across the country and develop basic and clinical medicine in a balanced way. State-of-the-art research facilities and ample clinical training environments must be provided so that the new school does not fall behind in educational standards simply because of its newness.
The teaching hospital, in particular, must serve not merely as a treatment facility but as the educational heart of training future medical professionals. It should be equipped with sufficient beds, specialist staff, a wide range of clinical departments and an emergency care system so that students can accumulate broad clinical experience.
A doctor's competence is not built on medical knowledge and technology alone. Physicians must also possess the character to understand patients' suffering and respect human life, along with a sense of responsibility and vocation in their medical judgments. That is why the school must cultivate doctors who combine skill with character — through community service and clinical training in rural settings.
To address the imbalance in medical personnel between regions and raise the quality of local healthcare, the school should honor the spirit of the regional doctor system — selecting and educating talent raised in the region and requiring newly licensed doctors to practice there for a set period.
But selecting talent and mandating service is not enough. Creating an environment in which graduates can settle and continue working in the region over the long term is far more important. No matter how capable the graduates are, if they leave for Greater Seoul or other regions after completing their studies, the founding purpose of improving local healthcare will inevitably be undermined.
A virtuous cycle must be built — from selecting local talent, through medical education, residency training and specialist certification, to employment at regional medical institutions. Stable jobs, fair compensation, research opportunities and a high-quality training environment must all be in place. Before asking doctors to stay in the region, the priority is to create conditions that make them want to work there.
In addition, cooperation must be strengthened among healthcare institutions in northern North Gyeongsang Province, including those in Andong, and the university hospitals and public medical institutions in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. Joint collaboration in education, research and clinical care will serve as the foundation for raising the overall standard of healthcare across the region.
North Gyeongsang Province, Andong, Yecheon-gun and Gyeonguk National University itself must not treat the establishment of the medical school as a one-time project. They must invest continuously in recruiting outstanding faculty, building the teaching hospital and developing advanced research facilities. The government, too, must provide fiscal, personnel and institutional support so that the medical school can take root on stable ground.
The establishment of Gyeonguk National University's medical school is not an end but a new beginning. What matters is not how many enrollment slots were secured, but what kind of doctors those students ultimately become. A good medical school is measured not by the size of its buildings or the number of its students, but by the competence of its graduates, the trust of its patients and its contribution to the community.
Building a medical school in a region is an act of planting the future. It is ultimately people who complete that future. Good doctors save patients; good medical schools save communities. Gyeonguk National University's medical school has the potential to grow beyond being a source of hope for North Gyeongsang Province into a new beacon of hope for healthcare across South Korea.
kbj7653@heraldcorp.com
