The time of the establishment of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in 1997 was just a transitional period welcoming a new millennium. Accepting the fact that the traditional medical education in Korea was not fully prepared to keep abreast the rapidly growing societal needs of the twenty-first century, the Medical School has endeavored to provide students with a new and appropriate medical education that responds to criticisms concerning traditional medical education. The educational goals of the institution are described as follows.

Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, which pursues to serve humanity and become a science-oriented institution aims to educate and train students to be competent physicians:

- willing to dedicate their time and expertise to actively promote the health of others via their scientific knowledge, technology, and attitudes based on proper ethics and balanced sense of value.

- able to perform creative investigations and education through consistent evaluation and development of themselves throughout their lives.

- having leadership qualities characterized by mutual understanding and cooperation to contribute in developing the health care system at an era that is rapidly changing to meet societal needs.