MOHW Launches Full-Scale Program to Improve Trainee Doctors’ Training Environments

 - 60 teaching hospitals selected to receive support under the Resident Training Environment Innovation Program -

- 35 tertiary hospitals participating; additional applications to be accepted in September -

- Support measures to strengthen teaching hospitals, including designation of supervising physicians and enhanced residency education -

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, Minister Jeong Eun Kyeong) announced on Friday, September 12, that 60 teaching hospitals have been selected* for the 2025 Training Environment Innovation Program for Trainee Doctors, marking the start of full-scale efforts to improve trainee doctors’ training environments.

* Selection was made by a review committee comprising representatives from academia (Korean Academy of Medical Sciences and related specialty societies), the hospital sector (teaching staff and hospital associations), and medical education experts.

The Training Environment Innovation Program for Trainee Doctors enables teaching hospitals to focus on enhancing the learning environments for trainee doctors. It provides priority support for the establishment of training systems for interns and eight core specialties*, thereby reinforcing the role of trainee doctors as learners. Through investment in developing the professional medical workforce, the program ultimately aims to improve the overall quality of healthcare. 

* Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Neurology, and Neurosurgery.

With the program now launched at 60 teaching hospitals, these hospitals are expected to begin making tangible improvements to training conditions. They will systematize training programs and build environments that help trainee doctors develop the knowledge, attitudes, and competencies required to become specialists.

Specifically, supervising specialists will be assigned to two distinct roles: lead supervising specialists, responsible for coordinating and managing the quality of training by hospital and specialty; and education focused supervising specialists, responsible for trainee education and counseling, ensuring the systematic operation of training programs. Teaching hospitals will establish an environment that ensures sufficient training for trainee doctors by improving training-related governance and budgets, as well as upgrading training facilities and equipment.

In particular, interns, who previously lacked dedicated supervising specialists or were trained under varying hospital-led systems, will now benefit from designated supervising specialists and structured curricula that help them apply medical school knowledge to real-world patient care.

Starting in September, participating hospitals will receive allowances for supervising specialists that reflect their assigned roles and increased training workloads, as well as funding for training program operations (in hospital training, case conferences, workshops, etc.).

For the training facility improvement program, support will be reinforced, focusing on regional teaching hospitals to build local training capacity.* Selected hospitals will receive facility and equipment** support tailored to their needs to establish in-hospital training infrastructure.

* Support for capital area: KRW 30 million for hospitals with 10 or fewer trainee doctors, and up to KRW 300 million for those with more than 300

Support for non-capital area: KRW 30 million for hospitals with 5 or fewer trainee doctors, and up to KRW 300 million for those with more than 150.

** Facilities: Renovation of trainee doctor study rooms, lounges, etc.

Equipment: Surgical skills training devices and equipment, and supplies needed for education and case presentations

Following the recruitment of trainee doctors for the second half of 2025, their numbers have returned to a stable level, and some teaching hospitals are now seeking to submit additional applications for the Training Environment Innovation Program. Accordingly, teaching hospitals that wish to participate beyond those already selected in this round may apply to the program by October 2025.

* Ministry of Health and Welfare website (https://www.mohw.go.kr) > Notices > Public Notice > MOHW Public Notice No. 2025-669

Kim Guk-il, Director General for Healthcare Policy, stated, “This innovation program will serve as a springboard for trainee doctors to grow into capable medical professionals who will lead the healthcare system of the future. We will ensure the program proceeds without setbacks and bring tangible improvements to training sites, while fully incorporating feedback from the field to operate it in a forward-looking way.”

- END -