Abstract
This study was carried out to provide the essential information in improving the graduate medical education in Korea. For the study, a survey targeting the directors of GME of nationwide teaching hospitals was performed with a questionnaire asking the questions such as the director's perception on the quality of GME, trainees' salary level, trainees' specialty selection tendency, training system and its duration. The collected data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and $x^2$-test. The results were as follows: 1. The survey were executed on 240 teaching hospitals in Korea and the response rate was 66.2% (159 hospitals replied). 2. The bigger a hospitals is the better in Quality of education. Larger hospitals tend to have better status in all items including medical specialists' experience, contents of medical curriculum, general environment for medical education and medical trainees's salary level. The result supported the general perception on the positive relationship between hospital size and Quality of GMA. 3. Providing convenience for medical trainees who prepares for the medical specialist Qualifying examination didn't affect the results of the examination. 4. The directions of GME have a perception that the trainees give positive impact on financial performance of their hospitals. This seems to be one of the reasons that hospitals try to retain as many trainees as possible. 5. The directors of GME considered medical trainees as an educate, and most of them responded positively on the need of governmental supports for the education cost and the trainee's salary. Considering above results, it seems that GME would get more social attention and the trainees' impact on hospitals operation would be increased more than before. In response to these trends, hospitals would find out the ways to lower dependency on trainees, and this change of attitude of hospitals on the GME would cause problems in operation of hospitals and GME itself. In order to prevent these problems the policy on GME should be directed in following ways. 1. The contents of Qualifying examination for specialist should be improved. 2. The curriculum of GME should be strictly followed. 3. The status of trainee in a hospital has to be defined as eductee. 4. Government has to support a half of the education cost and salary of trainee. 5. The distribution of the trainee among the hospital group have to be based on total available. 6. The financial support and welfare of trainee should be improved gradually and systematically.