Pukyong National University

The medical school of PKNU to create a research-oriented 7-year MD-PhD program.

The expected results in the establishment service report, the economic ripple effect is expected to be 3,100 billion KRW and an employment capacity of 14,500.

The number of admitted students will be capped at 30 the best location is the Gijang Medical Science Complex

△ A perspective view of the front door of the Medical School of Pukyong National University in Gijang

The medical school proposed by Pukyong National University (President Jang Young-Soo Jang) is an educational institution that create a research-oriented 7-year MD-PhD program. According to the report, it is predicted that if the medical school is established, it will have a great economic ripple effect and cause an employment boom in connection with the advanced radiology and science fields in the future.

On the 24th of March, medical policy experts from domestic universities and state-run research institutes participated in the 'Research on the Establishment and Operation Plan for the Pukyong National University Medical School', as a result of examining domestic and foreign medical education environments and future medical demand, the overwhelming opinion was that it would be most appropriate to found the Pukyong National University Medical School as a medical institution as a model of high-quality physician scientists that combines a four-year doctor of medicine program (MD) and a three-year doctor of philosophy program (PhD).

In addition, the maximum number of admitted students will be capped at 30, considering the overseas and domestic medical needs. The total investment cost over the 30 years related to construction and operation are estimated to be 1.379 trillion won, while the economic ripple effect will reach 3.1183 trillion won, including increased production (1.7619 trillion won) and added value (1.3563 trillion won), and it is expected to bring 14,532 new jobs.

This research was assessed as having high validity after a comprehensive review of the research report, which was led by the Institute of Health Service Management at Hanyang University, with participants from health policy related fields and experts from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University. They were provided the latest research and statistical data, such as the current status of domestic and overseas medical education and the future demand for MD-PhDs.

The study found that, as of 2019, the elderly population growth rate (5.5% per year) and the death rate per 100,000 population (993.8 people) were the highest in the Southeast region which includes Busan. In particular, Busan has the highest mortality rate nationally due to cancer (98.4) and heart disease (36.1). As a result, the life expectancy of the residents in the Southeastern region was 81.9 years, the lowest in the country, and a difference of 1.3 years compared to the highest metropolitan area (83.2 years old).

In contrast, the number of doctors per 1,000 people in Busan was 1.93 (2.04 nationwide) and the average annual increase in the number of doctors was 2.13% (2.58% nationwide), much lower than the national average. In particular, the number of medical schools in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam are 5.79, much lower than Jeonbuk (12.92) and Gwangju and Jeonnam (7.52), which currently require a new medical school based on a population of 100,000. Accordingly, with the exception of Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, Busan was ranked 7th out of 8 districts nationwide, after Chungbuk (5.56 people).

In addition, while the number of cancer patients who received radiation therapy in Korea was 29.1% as of 2016, the rate of radiation treatment in the United States and Europe was over 50%, and the number of cancer patients is expected to rise from 240,000 cases in the 2015, to 375,000 cases by 2035. Therefore, it is expected that it is necessary to expand professional manpower in both radiation clinical treatment and device manufacturing sectors.

In response to these demands, the research team devised a plan to cultivate MD-PhD graduates with specialization in radiology and precision medicine at the 'Southern East Area Radiology Medical & Science Industrial Complex' in Jangan-eup, Gijang-gun, Busan, where advanced facilities related to cancer treatment are concentrated. The training of MD-Phds began in the United States in 1964 and introduced to the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Singapore. Since 2000, Singapore has been operating a 7-year MD-PhD training program jointly with Duke University in the United States.

The Pukyong National University Medical School can use the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences campus (DIRAMS, 300 beds) within the same administrative area and the Korea institute of radiological and medical sciences campus (514 beds) in Seoul as educational cooperation hospitals, showing that the economic ripple effect is great even with the minimum project cost. In particular, the ripple effect is expected to further expand when major facilities, such as the medical heavy ion accelerator (260.6 billion won) and new research reactors (438.9 billion won) being built in the Southern East Area Radiology Medical & Science Industrial Complex, are in operation starting in 2023 and designated as a special urban convergence zone promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

An official at Pukyong National University said, "this study proposes a new medical school education model by studying the changes in the global medical paradigm in which treatment and diagnosis-oriented medicine is transformed into precision medicine and predictive medicine." He added, "Pukyong National University will establish a new medical school and campus that combines medicine, science, and engineering in Busan, where the world's best radiological science facilities are located, to lay the foundation to become the center of the global precision medical industry as well as a cancer treatment hub in Northeast Asia." <Pukyong Today>

△A bird's-eye view of the campus of Pukyong National University's Medical school in Gijang.