7 in 10 Physician-Scientist Graduate Students Face Research Interruptions Due to Military Service

Restrictions on Military Research Personnel Program Expand as Military-Required Specialties Grow
Postdoctoral Research Support Budget Cut by 17%

More than 7 in 10 graduate students training to become physician-scientists with government support are at risk of having to suspend their research because of military service. The government budget for helping them continue their research after earning doctoral degrees will also be cut by 17% next year, prompting calls to improve the effectiveness of policies to train physician-scientists.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute to Jeon Jinsook, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, 47 (73.4%) of the 64 male graduate students participating in the “Convergence Program for Training Physician-Scientists” were classified as trainees in military-required medical specialties as of October 26. Their eligibility to join the military’s specialized research personnel program is restricted, leaving them at high risk of having their research careers interrupted while fulfilling their military service.

Physician-scientists combine medical knowledge with research expertise and drive advances in medicine through work such as drug development and research into disease mechanisms. However, South Korea produces an average of 83 non-clinical physician-scientists a year, equivalent to just 2.7% of the 3,058 students graduating from medical schools annually.

The problem is that even these hard-won talents face structural barriers to continuing their research because of military service. If physician-scientists serve as military doctors, their research activities are suspended for 36 months. An alternative, the military’s specialized research personnel program, exists, but eligibility is restricted for trainees in “military-required specialties” designated by the Ministry of National Defense.

The number of medical specialties designated by the Ministry of National Defense as required for the military rose from two in 2024 to 12 in 2025 and 13 in 2026. The specialties designated this year are internal medicine, urology, neurology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, radiology, preventive medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, otolaryngology, psychiatry, orthopedic surgery and dermatology. Another problem is that the designation results are announced only four months before enlistment, making it difficult to plan research over the long term.

The second challenge is the research environment after earning a doctoral degree. Even with a Ph.D., it is difficult to grow into an independent researcher because support is centered on individual research projects and medical institutions lack sufficient research time and personnel. The Global Physician-Scientist Training Program, which supports postdoctoral research, is a sunset research and development (R&D) project, leaving the path to follow-on support unclear after the program ends.

The government plans to invest a total of 515.3 billion won from 2024 to 2032 in postdoctoral research, international training and joint research. However, the budget proposed for next year’s government-funded postdoctoral research support program for physician-scientists is 84.448 billion won, down 16.7% (16.936 billion won) from this year’s 101.384 billion won.

Major countries overseas have programs to prevent interruptions to research careers. Since 1964, the United States has supported researchers from the postdoctoral stage through to independent research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the United Kingdom, 25% of residents’ working hours and 50% of the time after earning a doctoral degree are protected for research. Clinical staffing gaps are addressed through salary support and replacement personnel.

“The government invests public funds in training physician-scientists, yet there is a severe lack of systems to support trained professionals so they can continue their research,” Jeon said. “We will build infrastructure tailored to needs in the field, including improvements to the military service system and protections for research time, so physician-scientists can take their place as key contributors to the national biohealth industry.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.