Abstract
BackgroundSince the late 1980s, the policy of the Japanese government regarding physician manpower has been to decrease the number of medical students. However, the shortage of doctors in Japan has become a social problem in recent years. The aim of this study was to compare the numbers of physicians in Japan between 1996 and 2006 and the trends in distribution of physicians.MethodsThe time trends in number and distribution of physicians between 1996 and 2006 were analyzed. Gini coefficient, Atkinson index and Theil index were used as measures for mal-distribution of physicians to population. The distribution of physicians was visualized on a map by using geographic information system (GIS) software.ResultsThe total number of physicians increased every year in the period from 1996 to 2006 but has remained below the international standard. All three measures of mal-distribution of physicians worsened after 2004, and the worsening was remarkable in the distribution of physicians working at hospitals. The number of physicians working at hospitals has significantly increased in urban areas but not in areas with low population densities. When medical interns were excluded from calculation, the measures of mal-distribution improved.ConclusionThe problem of a doctor shortage in Japan is linked to both the shortage of absolute number of physicians and the mal-distribution of hospital physicians. The new postgraduate internship system might worsen this situation.
Highlights
Since the late 1980s, the policy of the Japanese government regarding physician manpower has been to decrease the number of medical students
Since the late 1980's, the policy of Japanese government regarding physicians' manpower has been to decrease the number of medical students because of the predicted surplus of doctors
Forty-seven percent of physicians are working at general hospitals, 36% are practicing at clinics, and 17% are working at university hospitals
Summary
Since the late 1980s, the policy of the Japanese government regarding physician manpower has been to decrease the number of medical students. The shortage of doctors in Japan has become a social problem in recent years. Since the late 1980's, the policy of Japanese government regarding physicians' manpower has been to decrease the number of medical students because of the predicted surplus of doctors. The shortage of doctors in Japan has recently become a serious social problem, which has been repeatedly highlighted in mass media [1,2]. The number of physicians in Japan is small compared with the numbers in other developed countries. Japan belongs to the lowest group among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries,
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