An advisory panel for both the health ministry and the education ministry has proposed abolishing the current training system for medical interns and creating a new one. While the new system, expected to start in fiscal 2010, appears geared more toward securing enough doctors in the countryside, it carries the danger of weakening training quality.
The current system, started in fiscal 2004, gives interns training in a wide range of specialties. In the past, most interns remained at university hospitals and received training solely in their specialty. But the current system is blamed for causing a shortage of doctors in the countryside, as it allows interns to choose where they receive hospital training. A large number of interns have chosen hospitals in urban areas that offer better training and salaries. As a result, the number of interns at university hospitals has dwindled, causing university hospitals to call back doctors dispatched to countryside hospitals.
Under the current system, interns must undergo training in seven designated specialties over 16 months then spend eight more months training in the specialty they have chosen.