Primary care doctor fostering and clinical research training in Sweden: Implications for Japan

Abstract

In 2018, a new training program for primary care physicians was launched in Japan. As physicians responsible for the training of new primary care physicians, we have faced many problems, particularly in rural areas. The influence of this new program on primary care physicians in rural areas of Japan has not been sufficiently investigated. The aim of this research was to improve training for primary care physicians in Japan by examining training programs in Sweden, where the population challenges are similar to those seen in Japan. In this paper, we will express our opinions and describe the differences in the primary care fostering systems and clinical research training for generalist in Japan and Sweden.

Research Trends and Impact Factor on PubMed Among General Medicine Physicians in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Bibliometric Analysis

“… 22 Some of these physicians are trained as general medicine physicians, whereas others are cardiologists, gastroenterologists, and pulmonologists. 5 , 22 , 31 , 32 …”

“… 2 , 7 , 17 , 18 , 27 , 33–38 We thus suggest promoting these aforementioned research topics, instead of organ-specific research topics, suited to generalists who provide comprehensive medical care based on patient-centeredness. 5 , 17 , 22 , 23 , 31 , 32 To encourage scholarship among academic generalists in Japan, research could focus on the settings and patients in which generalists serve. 39 For example, in the US, academic hospital medicine has been extensively developed by presenting evidence of its high quality, safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness, with a special focus on quality improvement and safety and medical education.…”

“… 23 Areas of specialty that have a high affinity with general medicine physicians, such as comprehensive patient-centered medicine, community medicine, clinical education, and medical quality and safety activities, are not evaluated as highly as basic research, 17 , 22 , 23 and thus, general medicine physicians with research interests in these areas are often undervalued in Japan. 21 , 31 …”

“…22 Some of these physicians are trained as general medicine physicians, whereas others are cardiologists, gastroenterologists, and pulmonologists. 5,22,31,32 Furthermore, it is important to note that the research areas preferred by Japanese general medicine physicians included clinical and basic experimental research. 17 This may be because physicians who concurrently practice both subspecialties and general medicine often continue as general medicine physicians in the field of experimental basic research under their previous specialty areas.…”

Global distance learning for Japanese generalists: The new era of learning

“…1,2 However, there are limited opportunities to avail research support and mentoring for generalists in Japan. 3 I believe that a generalist who gets to see the patient is likely to raise important clinical research questions. In that sense, I am convinced that global distance education is a new learning method through which practicing generalists in the community can keep themselves updated and learn suitable sophisticated skills.…”