Renovation of medical specialty education system in Japan (Current status and future perspectives)

Abstract

In order to further improve competences of specialized physicians and to correct uneven distribution of young physicians in Japan, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has compiled a report on April 22, proposing major renovation of training system for specialized medical doctors. In the proposed system, there will be 19 fundamental training areas for specialties, including general internal medicine, just after the completion of two-years of mandatory postgraduate clinical training defined by law. Japanese Board of Medical Specialties (tentative name), which is similar to ACGME in US, will be established as an independent organization in the late 2013 and play a pivotal role in renewal of the system. The new organization will possess two major functions, one is to assess and accredit training programs for medical specialties, and the other is to manage board examination systems for medical specialties. Specialty training based on the new system will commence in April 2017 at the earliest. In such circumstances, Japanese Society of Neurology will be requested not only to clarify competency profiles of capable neurologists but also to present effective training programs to produce such competent neurologists.