The government has reiterated its stance to not receive additional applications for the state medical licensing exam this year after senior medical students nationwide retracted their boycott over the exam in protest of medical reform plans. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare relayed its position in a text message to reporters on Thursday, saying providing them with an additional chance to take the exam is impossible with only an expression of intent to take it. It emphasized fairness and equity in its handling of all state-sanctioned exams as well as public opinion on the matter. 

Earlier in the day, representatives of the senior students at 40 medical colleges and medical schools issued a joint statement to express their intent to take the annual exam, saying they hope to work for “right values and medical services” amid the COVID-19 outbreak. 

While seeking public support for their efforts to establish “healthy” medical infrastructure in the nation, the students did not comment or issue an apology over their previous boycott, which occurred along national protests by physicians over reform plans, including increasing the number of medical students’ quotas. 

The window of application for the test closed on September 8 despite the government’s extensions, leading only 14 percent of three-thousand-172 potential exam-takers allowed to take the exam.