In late November, South Korean public opinion was stirred by an incident that clearly illustrated the dark side of this pressure. Police were called to a family's home after a medical student in his twenties reported being subjected to psychological abuse. The son claimed his father – a doctor – constantly pressured him to continue his medical studies.
When the police arrived, the father and son were in a tense situation. The son had just submitted a request to voluntarily withdraw from medical school, and his father reacted strongly against this.
To clarify the accusation, the male student played an audio recording in which his father reprimanded him: "How could you do that without asking your family's opinion, after all these years of raising you?" However, police stated that the recording did not show any signs of physical violence or serious insults.
Instead, they noticed a serious breakdown in communication between the father and son. The police even reminded the son about calling his father "grandfather"—a form of address considered disrespectful in Korean culture.
According to the son, this conflict had been simmering for years. He shared with Yonhap News : "Since high school, I've made it clear to my parents that I don't want to study medicine. But they constantly pressured me, forcing me to pursue it. They even submitted my medical school entrance exam application on my behalf, even though I didn't want to."
After enrolling in university in 2023, the male student requested a leave of absence due to prolonged psychological stress. In 2024, during the Korean doctors' strike, he was accepted into a business school. However, he was ultimately unable to enroll due to strong opposition from his family.
The father also rejected his son's suggestion to have police intervention for temporary separation. He said he "had to be there to convince his son before the withdrawal request was approved." Finding no evidence of violence, the police closed the case, noting that the family had reported similar conflicts on several occasions.
According to education experts, this incident is not an isolated case but reflects the deep-seated social pressure surrounding the medical profession – especially within families with a tradition of becoming doctors. For many, medicine is seen as the most prestigious, secure, and prestigious career path, with virtually no alternative.
Data from Jongno Medical College shows that 386 students dropped out of medical school last year, nearly double the 201 from the previous year. Even among the "top 5 medical schools"—Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Catholic University of Korea, Sungkyunkwan University, and Ulsan University—16 students dropped out in 2024, the highest number in five years.
Lim Sung-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, said he recently mentored a high-achieving middle school student. “She said she wanted to study engineering, but her parents strongly opposed it. That made her begin to doubt her own self-worth,” he recounted.
“This is a symbolic case. More and more families believe that the only stable career path is medicine. In families with doctors, that belief is passed down from generation to generation, and that is exacerbating the simmering conflicts between parents and children,” Lim observed.
Why is the medical profession so popular in South Korea?
In South Korea, the medical profession has long been seen as a symbol of high social status, stable income, and a nearly risk-free future. This allure makes medicine a top choice for academically gifted students, despite unprecedentedly fierce competition.
Admission standards for medical schools are always very high. According to statistics from Jongno Academy, to be admitted to the lowest-ranked medical school, applicants must achieve a score of 97.7th percentile – meaning they must have a better score than 97.7% of applicants on the university entrance exam (Suneung). Even to get into Seoul National University's School of Medicine (SNU), applicants must be in the top 0.8% nationwide.
According to The Korea Herald , experts believe the root cause lies in South Korea's decision to "freeze" medical school enrollment quotas since 2006, while life expectancy, income, and healthcare needs continue to rise. This imbalance between supply and demand has elevated the status of doctors to an exceptionally high level, both in terms of income and prestige.
As a result, there is a strong influx of talent into the medical field, causing concern for the government. Even students from elite science high schools—who are trained to pursue research and technology—are increasingly turning to medicine.
South Korean officials acknowledge that the overwhelming number of elite students pursuing medicine is "disadvantageous to national competitiveness," as it leads to a shortage of high-quality personnel in science, technology, and engineering fields. However, all attempts to adjust the system, from increasing enrollment quotas and establishing new medical schools to improving benefits for other fields, have faced controversy and opposition, particularly from the medical community.
In this context, the white lab coat is not only a symbol of success, but also becomes the focal point of family and social pressure, contributing to simmering conflicts between parental expectations and children's personal desires – as is the case with many medical students in South Korea today.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ap-luc-theo-hoc-nganh-y-va-nhung-xung-dot-am-i-trong-cac-gia-dinh-tinh-hoa-2471287.html
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