Background There is a shortage of general practitioners in Japan. With the revision of educational guidelines, general practice (GP) education has improved. However, the amount of education on GP in medical schools remains inconsistent. This study examined the relationship between medical students’ amount of GP-related education and their subsequent choice of GP majors.
Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Japan. Participants were residents in the hospital. The exposure comprised compulsory lectures and training time for community-based medicine in medical schools. The outcome included participants choosing GP majors after their initial 2-year junior residency.
Results Fifty-one participants were included in the final analysis. Of these, 14 majored in GP and 37 in non-GP after their initial 2-year junior residency. Of the participants who took GP lectures for 18 hours or more, 11 chose GP majors, and 18 chose non-GP majors (risk ratio, 2.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.88–8.79). Of the participants who underwent training for 12 days or more, 10 chose GP majors, and 16 chose non-GP majors (risk ratio, 2.40; 95% CI, 0.87–6.68).
Conclusion The results do not support the association between the amount of compulsory undergraduate education for community-based medicine and the subsequent increase in the number of residents choosing GP majors in Japan. Educators would do well to explore different approaches, such as improving the quality of education to increase the number of GP residents. Further research is needed to reach more definitive conclusions.
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Background As of 2006, the residents of family medicine occupies about 9 percent among the total. However, expansion of more general practice doctors is in demand to conduct desirable general practice. Accordingly, this study was conducted to survey the motivation to apply for family medicine residency and the actual situation. Methods: A questionnaire survey of 862 residents of nationwide family medicine from June 2006 to July 2006 was performed via e-mails. Hospital, size, years, gender, age, university, career, time and motivation to apply, and existence and nonexistence of lecture in medical school or clinical practice of family medicine for students were reviewed. Results: Among the total, 415 (48.14%) residents from 72 training hospitals answered. For the motivation, 'the necessity to diagnose and treat various patients' was 53.49%, 'advantageous to start practice' was 21.93%, and 'relatively short training period' was 11.33%. For the time, during 'intern' was 49.40%, 'on getting a job' 16.63%, and as a 'student' 15.42%. When they had lectures of family medicine in medical school, decision made as a student was 19.93%, and during clinical practice was 21.61%. Conclusion: Among the reasons that motivated to apply for family medicine, 'the necessity to diagnose and treat various patients' was the biggest, which conforms to the training goal of Academy of Family Physicians. Since there is a tendency to select family medicine residency earlier when they are exposed to lectures of family medicine or clinical practices in medical school, the effort to expand substantial lectures and clinical practices is needed. (J Korean Acad Fam Med 2007;28:931-936)
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