Abstract
To strengthen the R&D capability and the competitiveness of the Korean oriental medicine industry, an adequate supply of qualified R&D personnel including medical doctors of Korean oriental medicine is an important precondition. This study analyze current and future R&D manpower requirements including medical doctors in the Korean oriental medicine research area. Our analyses can be utilized for developing the government R&D manpower planning including the adequate supply of medical doctors for the Korean oriental medicine research. For the study, we conducted and analyzed a delphi survey of the experts, the principal investigators, with expertise in Korean oriental medicine research areas. The results of this study can be summarized as follows; First, in 2007 the Korean oriental medicine R&D personnel is currently under-supplied as many as 302 people including 111 medical doctors of Korean oriental medicine. The rate of under-supplied is 28.2%. Second, in 2017 the forecast shows that the R&D personnel in this area will be more severely under-supplied as many as 539 people including 185 medical doctor of Korean oriental medicine. The rate of under-supplied will be 32.6%. As a result, the confrontation of demand and supply forecasts shows that, in general, severe shortages of R&D manpower in the areas of Korean oriental medicine will result if there are not adequate manpower policy adjustment.
