Among Asian nations, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea exemplify countries with high standards of medical quality. This review explores the differences in medical education policies between Japan and Singapore, particularly concerning governance, and discusses the implications for South Korea's medical education policies. Relevant documents were analyzed by referencing scholarly articles and data from governmental and expert organizations in each country. In Japan, advances in medical education policies include initiatives such as the regional quota system and the core curriculum model, which emphasize stakeholder engagement and transparency. However, challenges persist due to limited stakeholder participation, necessitating a transition toward a more equitable governance paradigm. Singapore's model features robust public-private partnerships with minimal direct governmental intervention, emphasizing innovation and community integration, as seen in the Healthier SG project. These case studies demonstrate effective governance involving significant stakeholder collaboration and strategic financial investments. Conversely, South Korea's medical education policies face challenges from a predominantly government-centric approach, with an absence of cohesive governance structures and inadequate involvement from essential professional stakeholders. This situation has led to policy inconsistencies and a deficit of strategic direction, exacerbated by insufficient financial support for educational infrastructure and program development. The experiences of Japan and Singapore indicate that it would be beneficial for South Korea to adopt integrated governance frameworks that prioritize transparency and collaboration. Furthermore, increasing financial investment in medical education could mitigate existing deficiencies and improve the quality and effectiveness of its healthcare education system.

Given the increasing health disparities across regions and populations, social accountability is not an option but an obligation for health professions schools, including medical schools. In this short communication, the authors report the case of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIU SOM), which has been an exemplary medical school for social accountability, receiving the 2013 AMEE ASPIRE Award in social accountability and the 2018 Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Award for Institutional Excellence in Social Mission in Health Professions Education. This paper focuses on the school's admission policies in the discussion of its social accountability. It starts with the background of central and southern Illinois, where the school is located to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in the areas. It discusses the school's holistic admission policies and two pipeline programs-namely, MEDPREP and McNeese Physician Preparatory Pipeline Program (P4)-that are strategically designed as a long-term physician workforce development plan to address health disparities in rural areas. As of January 30, 2024, 3,233 students have earned the MD (Doctor of Medicine) degree at SIU SOM. In total, 770 alumni (33%) are practicing in primary care. Among 901 graduates practicing in Illinois, 484 (54%) are practicing in SIU SOM service area counties (i.e., central and southern Illinois). Social accountability is the core value and organizational identity of SIU SOM and the guiding principle of the school's innovation and excellence.

Medical school admission policies vary from country to country. In Korea, medical school admission policies ref lect the policy choices made by the Ministry of Education. After the Korean War, universities implemented their own entrance exams, and since then, various admissions processes have been implemented with consideration of the fairness of the exam and the increase in private education expenses. The introduction of the medical graduate school system has led many universities to implement tests separate from the academic ability test. Currently, 40 medical schools have been approved by the government and are responsible for providing medical education, but there is a growing movement to open new medical schools in various regions. The excessive interest in medical school admissions in Korea is creating an unfavorable social atmosphere, where academies are even being operated for elementary school students to help them achieve an eventual goal of entering medical school. Furthermore, an irresponsible and sudden increase in the number of students admitted to medical school is causing a disruption in medical education. Medical schools need unconditional government support to strengthen their role in the community and the nation, and policy consideration is needed to ensure that universities are as autonomous as possible.

This study investigated the relationships of situational factors, motivational assessment-related factors, and situationally induced personal characteristics with pro-social intention to disclose patient information among health and medical students. In total, 210 students from Konyang University participated in the survey, including 116 medical students and 94 other health students. To measure the influence of variables on pro-social intention to disclose information related to health information security, a 27-item questionnaire was used. The reliability of the survey was shown by Cronbach's α values of 0.859 to 0.917. According to students' perceptions, higher disease severity was significantly related to higher impacts on the patient, family, and themselves (p<0.01), as well as higher situational empathy (p<0.05). Pro-social intention to disclose showed negative correlations with health information security awareness, information education experience, perceived impact on the self, responsibility to disclose, and personal norms (r=-0.136 to -0.647, p<0.05). Responsibility to disclose and situational empathy explained approximately 44% of the variance in pro-social intention to disclose. Additionally, students who received information security training perceived a significantly higher responsibility to disclose, exhibited higher health information security awareness, and had lower pro-social intention to disclose. This study confirmed the need for information security education for health and medical students, and suggested that pro-social characteristics such as empathy and responsibility need to be carefully addressed in information security education.