Japan to Reduce Medical School Quotas Starting from 2028

As a surplus of doctors is expected due to population decline, Japan has decided on a policy to significantly reduce medical school enrollment quotas. This policy aims to decrease the total number of doctors while maintaining a foundation for securing regional doctors in medically underserved areas.
This is a policy designed to avoid the increase in national medical expenses caused by a rising number of doctors and to address issues in medically underserved rural areas. In contrast, Korea is moving in the opposite direction due to politicians' pursuit of votes; it is obvious what the results will be regarding the depletion of health insurance finances and the situation in about 10 years.
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Japan to Reduce Medical School Quotas Nationwide from 2028... "Impact of Decreasing Patient Numbers"
Unlike previous reductions focused only on prefectures with many doctors, the quota reduction will expand to other prefectures in the future.
Japan has decided on a plan to reduce medical school enrollment quotas on a nationwide scale starting from the 2028 academic year.
Until now, quotas have been reduced primarily in medical schools located in prefectures with a high number of doctors, but the policy will now expand to include prefectures with doctor shortages or moderate levels.
However, there are plans to actually increase the proportion of "regional quotas," which recruit students on the condition that they work in specific regions after graduation.
According to local Japanese media such as Yomiuri on the 5th, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare presented this plan at a review meeting on the 4th. The specific framework for setting quotas is expected to be decided early next year.
Japan's medical school quota decreased from 9,403 in the 2024 academic year to 9,376 in the 2026 academic year. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare judged that there is a need to further promote the reduction of doctor training scales, noting that the number of patients is decreasing nationwide due to population decline.
Japan's medical school quotas are divided into general quotas and temporary quotas, which were separately increased to secure doctors. Since the 2025 academic year, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has been requesting reductions in temporary quotas at universities in prefectures with many doctors.
From the 2028 academic year, the scale of quota reductions will expand to prefectures with few or moderate numbers of doctors. However, prefectures with a high need for doctor security, such as those with a high proportion of elderly doctors, will be excluded from the reduction targets.
Most of the temporary quotas are set as "regional quotas," which require doctors to work in a region for a long time after graduation. Since reducing temporary quotas could also reduce regional quotas, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare plans to encourage universities to increase the number of regional quota students within the general quota.
The intent is to reduce the overall number of doctors while maintaining the foundation for securing doctors in medically underserved areas.
Previously, in April of this year, Japan's Ministry of Finance announced a plan to significantly reduce medical school enrollment quotas as a surplus of doctors is expected due to population decline.
At a meeting of the Fiscal System Deliberative Council, an advisory body to the Japanese Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Finance pointed out that Japan's doctor supply and demand balance is highly likely to align between 2029 and 2032, after which it will likely tilt toward oversupply.
Source: Medigate News (medigatenews.com/news/1794824048)