Taiwan's University Admissions Shake-Up: Dentistry Surpasses Medicine in Prestige?

Is the traditional dominance of medicine in Taiwan's university admissions waning? A look at the changing landscape and the rising star of dentistry.

The first phase of university admissions in Taiwan has revealed a surprising trend: Medicine is no longer the undisputed top choice. A recent discussion on an online forum highlights that the admission scores for Dentistry programs at National Taiwan University (NTU) have surpassed those of the medical school at the same institution. Furthermore, the admission scores for dentistry programs at various other universities are now frequently higher than, or at least comparable to, their respective medical schools, and even other medical programs.

The original poster, a 29-year-old resident physician, shared his personal experience. He revealed that, compared to his dentist friends, he works nearly twice as many hours but earns a quarter of their monthly salary. He lamented the situation, stating that Taiwan's public health sector often provides the lowest pay and demands the highest level of service.

In a post titled "Congratulations to Medical Schools for No Longer Being the Highest-Scoring Department in Taiwan," the original poster detailed the specifics of the admissions results. This year, the dentistry programs at NTU and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) surpassed the NTU medical school in terms of admission scores. Comparing other universities, it was noted that the admission scores of dental programs were at least on par with medical programs. For instance, the dentistry program at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYMU) scored at the same level (58 points) as its medical program. Moreover, dentistry programs at Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU), Chung Shan Medical University, and China Medical University all scored 57 points, significantly higher than the medical programs at these three universities which scored 56 points.