Abstract
BackgroundThe shortage of physicians in rural areas and in some specialties is a societal problem in Japan. Expensive tuition in private medical schools limits access to them particularly for students from middle- and low-income families. One way to reduce this barrier and lessen maldistribution is to offer conditional scholarships to private medical schools.MethodsA discrete choice experiment is carried out on a total of 374 students considering application to medical schools. The willingness to receive a conditional scholarship program to private medical schools is analyzed.ResultsThe probability of attending private medical schools significantly decreased because of high tuition, a postgraduate obligation to provide a service in specific specialty areas, and the length of time of this obligation. An obligation to provide a service in rural regions had no significant effect on this probability. To motivate non-applicants to private medical schools to enroll in such schools, a decrease in tuition to around 1.2 million yen (US$ 12 000) or less, which is twice that of public schools, was found to be necessary. Further, it was found that non-applicants to private medical schools choose to apply to such schools even with restrictions if they have tuition support at the public school level.ConclusionsConditional scholarships for private medical schools may widen access to medical education and simultaneously provide incentives to work in insufficiently served areas.
Highlights
The shortage of physicians in rural areas and in some specialties is a societal problem in Japan
One option for solving these problems is to provide scholarships to private medical schools in exchange for service as medical practitioners in insufficiently served regions and specialties for certain periods of time. These scholarships may widen access to medical education and simultaneously provide incentives to work in insufficiently served areas
This paper investigates factors associated with the willingness of students to enroll in private medical schools when some postgraduate obligations are imposed in exchange for a decrease in financial burden
Summary
The shortage of physicians in rural areas and in some specialties is a societal problem in Japan. Expensive tuition in private medical schools limits access to them for students from middle- and lowincome families. One way to reduce this barrier and lessen maldistribution is to offer conditional scholarships to private medical schools. The shortage of physicians in rural areas in particular has become a serious societal concern. A further societal problem is the shortage of physicians in some specialties. The workload for pediatricians, obstetricians, and gynecologists has increased but fewer graduates are choosing these disciplines [3,4]. This may lead to shortages of such specialists in the long run
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