Purpose Despite growing recognition of the critical importance of physician leadership in delivering safe healthcare, especially in light of the 2023 medical crisis and professional resistance in Korea, existing studies on leadership education have focused predominantly on countries with long-established leadership curricula. This study aims to assess the curricular content of Korean medical schools to provide a quantitative and qualitative baseline of medical leadership training in the undergraduate curriculum.
Methods We conducted a content analysis of undergraduate medical curricula from 19 Korean medical schools using the Medical Leadership Competency Framework (MLCF) as a guiding framework. Survey questionnaires were distributed to designated faculty at each institution, and 270 courses were analyzed, yielding 504 leadership-related codes that were categorized thematically across the five MLCF domains and by academic year.
Results Our analysis revealed that 228 codes (45.2%) fell within “Demonstrating personal qualities” and 75 codes (14.8%) within “Setting direction,” with predominant emphasis on medical ethics and law. Training in systems-based practice, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and team-based approaches was relatively limited. Substantial institutional variation existed, with only eight of 19 schools offering curricula covering all five MLCF domains. Most leadership content was delivered through isolated, single- semester courses rather than longitudinally integrated programs.
Conclusion While Korean medical schools recognize certain leadership competencies, there is a need for more comprehensive and consistent integration of leadership development, particularly in teamwork and systems-based practice. We recommend longitudinal integration of leadership education across pre-clinical and clinical years to address evolving competencies at different training stages.
Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the accreditation standards items related to the decision of accreditation of medical schools by the Korea Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE).
Methods The subjects are medical schools in Korea that have received post-2nd cycle accreditation from the KIMEE between 2012 and 2016. Analyses were conducted for differences in accreditation decisions according to the characteristics of medical schools, sufficient ratios of basic standards items, and correlation between standards items related to accreditation decisions.
Results After examining differences in accreditation decisions by the medical school’s characteristics, there were no significant correlations between accreditation standard items and accreditation decisions. Second, according to the number of schools that sufficiently or insufficiently met each standard item, from the total of 97 standard items, 20 (20.6%) were sufficiently fulfilled by all medical schools. Standard item 2-5-2 demonstrated the highest insufficiency ratio. Third, with respect to the standard item that had an effect on accreditation decisions, standard item 1-5-1 showed the highest correlation with the sufficiency rate.
Conclusion The validity of accreditation standards items was assured as this study evaluated the post-2nd cycle accreditation standards items regardless of each medical school’s characteristics. The accreditation standards items were found to have a meaningful impact on the development of medical schools and qualitative improvement in medical education. The findings are expected to contribute to guaranteeing the validity and reliability of accreditation decisions and raising the quality of accreditation.
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Purpose This study analyzed the current status of and correlations between Korean medical students’ experiences and perspectives surrounding patient-centered medical education (PCME).
Methods A structured PCME questionnaire composed of three categories, understanding patients within social and cultural contexts, understanding patients’ individual health contexts through communication, and placement of patients at the center of medical education, was used. The students were stratified into pre-medical (Pre-med), medical (Med), and policlinic (PK) groups because of curriculum differences by grade. The χ2 test was applied to analyze the association between students’ experiences with and perspectives on PCME. A Cramer’s V of 0.200 was considered a large effect size for any association between experiences with and perspectives on PCME.
Results Among the respondents, 50.6% answered that they did not know about patient-centered medicine before the survey. With increasing school years went up from Pre-med to PK, fewer students agreed that PCME should be added to pre-clinical medicine curricula (p<0.001), that patients should be in the center throughout medical education (p=0.011), and that patients’ personal histories, values, and objectives are important PCME (p=0.001). Students who said they learned PCME for each category were more likely to consider PCME important (Cramer’s V was 0.219 and 0.271 for “with,” and “for the patients” respectively, p<0.001 for “about/with/for the patients”). Students in all groups chose clinical practice as the best method for PCME (p=0.021). Med group chose the lectures as the most effective tool to learn about the importance of communication (p<0.001).
Conclusion Students who experienced PCME were likely to perceive PCME as important and it showed that experiences of PCME had positive effects on PCME perceptions. Despite students’ preferences for clinical practice as the best method for PCME, PK reported that they did not learn PCME, and regarded PCME as less important compared to students at earlier stages of their medical education. Therefore, more intensive and holistic PCME curricula rather than only clinical practice exposure may be necessary.
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Methods This study examined the competency of 63 medical students from the 6-year program (group A) and 41 medical students from the 4-year program (group B) at Yonsei University using the Korea Collegiate Essential Skills Assessment (KCESA). The
competency of groups A and B were compared to the corresponding competency levels of non-medical students (groups C and D). Group C is freshmen and D is senior students in universities. The KCESA is computer-based ability test composed of 228 items. The competency of participants were calculated on a T-scores (mean=50, standard deviation=10) based on KCESA norm-references. We conducted independent t-test for group comparisons of competency levels.
Results There are no differences in competency levels between groups A and B. Compared with the non-medical students (group B), the medical students showed a significantly stronger ability to use resources, information-technology and higher-order thinking. In the comparison between groups B and D, medical students showed lower levels of self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills.
Conclusion The cognitive ability serves as an important indicator for the decision on admission to a basic medical education program. The efforts should be made to foster the competency that medical students have been found to lack, such as self-management, interpersonal, and cooperative skills. The admission committee should assess the cognitive and non-cognitive competency of applicants in a balanced manner.
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The Korean Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC) developed graduate outcomes based on “The role of Korean doctor, 2014” to serve as guidelines regarding outcome-based education in Korea. The working group in this study analyzed 65 competencies proposed in “The role of Korean doctor, 2014” according to the developmental principle that certain outcomes should be demonstrated at the point of entry into the graduate medical education. We established 34 competencies as “preliminary graduate outcomes”
(PGOs). The advisory committee consisted of 11 professors, who reviewed the validity of PGOs. Ultimately, a total of 19 “revised graduate outcomes” (RGOs) were selected. We modified the RGOs based on opinions from medical schools and a public hearing. In November 2017, the KAMC announced the “graduate outcomes for basic medical education,” which serves as a guide for basic medical education for the 40 medical schools throughout Korea. Medical schools can expand the graduate outcomes according to their educational goals and modify them according to their own context. We believe that graduate outcomes can be a starting point for connecting basic medical education to graduate medical education.
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to categorize surgery-related medical terminologies used in South and North Korea and to compare and analyze discrepancies observed in the terms. Methods: This study collected medical terminology used in the North Korean medical book “Surgery” and compared it to medical terminology found in the medical glossary of South Korea. The order of the subtitle was described according to the Instruction to Authors. Results: In total, there were 2,168 individual medical terms, of which only 1,004 words (46.3%) were identical to South Korean medical terms. There were 581 similar terms (26.8%), 265 different terms (12.2%), and 318 terms that are nonexistent in South Korea (14.7%). Conclusion: Less than half of the medical terms used in North Korea match those used in South Korea. It is expected that the prolongation of the current division of South and North Korea will only worsen this discrepancy. Further efforts to bridge the gap through academic exchange between South Korea and North Korea are required in preparation for an era of reunification.
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Purpose Although there have been studies emphasizing the re-education of North Korean (NK) doctors for post-unification of the Korean Peninsula, study on the content and scope of such re-education has yet to be conducted. Researchers intended to set the content and scope of re-education by a comparative analysis for the scores of the preliminary examination, which is comparable to the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE).
Methods The scores of the first and second preliminary exams were analyzed by subject using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The passing status of the group of NK doctors for KMLE in recent 3 years were investigated. The multiple-choice-question (MCQ) items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of South Korean (SK) medical students by two times of the standard deviation of the scores of SK medical students were selected to investigate the relevant reasons.
Results The average scores of nearly all subjects were improved in the second exam compared with the first exam. The passing rate of the group of NK doctors was 75%. The number of MCQ items of which difficulty indexes of NK doctors were lower than those of SK medical students was 51 (6.38%). NK doctors’ lack of understandings for Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures, Therapeutics, Prenatal Care, and Managed Care Programs was suggested as the possible reason.
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Results The MBI-SS was reliable and valid in measuring burnout in Korean medical students. Our confirmatory factor analysis approved and explained the appropriateness of the model fit. The prevalence of burnout among medical students was 26.4% (n=141). Such
rates were higher in students who were female, experienced greater levels of depression, had poor academic performance, feared dropping out, and were stressed by the poor quality of the class facilities.
Conclusion The MBI-SS is a valid instrument to measure academic burnout in Korean medical students. Further studies should be performed, because improvements in the mental health of medical students will benefit these doctors-to-be and their future patients.
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