Training In Japan Research Articles

Effectiveness of parent training in improving stress-coping capability, anxiety, and depression in mothers raising children with autism spectrum disorder.

PurposeRaising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be a stressor, and mothers of ASD children often present with high levels of stress and depression. Interventional steps to enhance parental coping skills and resiliency are more important for parental mental health and the family-centered care of children with ASD than merely reducing parental stress. Although the importance of stress-coping skills is well established, only a few studies have investigated interventional steps to improve parental coping or resiliency. Parent training (PT) is known to improve a mother’s mental health. Here, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of PT in improving the stress-coping style of mothers raising children with ASD.Patients and methodsThirty mothers of children with ASD aged 4–11 years participated in this study. The mothers underwent PT based on the Hizen Parenting Skills Training in Japan, which comprised seven sessions. Each session included education on behavior therapy, individual consultation, and workshops in small groups. Sixteen mothers completed psychological assessment, including the Stress Coping Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Child Behavior Checklist conducted before and after 2 months of PT.ResultsThe outcomes before and after the PT program were compared using the paired t-test and Pearson’s correlation. After the PT program, the mothers’ stress-coping strategy “positive appraisal” significantly increased (P<0.01) and “escape/avoidance” significantly decreased (P<0.01). The Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (P<0.05) and the trait anxiety scores (P<0.01) also significantly decreased. The change in the stress-coping strategy “distancing” had a significantly negative correlation with the change in the externalizing Child Behavior Checklist T-scores of children with ASD (Pearson r=−0.518, P<0.05).ConclusionPT may be effective for mothers of children with ASD to improve their stress-coping style and to decrease their depression and trait anxiety.

Psychological growth through Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy training in Japan

ABSTRACTInterview research was conducted in Japan with Japanese participants who had completed Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy (PCEAT) training. This research was done to illustrate the process of psychological growth in PCEAT training in Japan. The interview data was analyzed with interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results of this study suggest several aspects of psychological growth in PCEAT training. For the participants in PCEAT training, it appeared that the difficulties and crises encountered in the training course served as opportunities for psychological growth. The researcher found that awareness of the body helped participants to be in the present and get in touch with their feelings during PCEAT training. Nonverbal artistic expression exercises, focused on body awareness, propelled participants to get in touch with their body and thus get in touch with their emotions. Finally, the research suggests that a safe and supportive PCA environment is essential for participants’ psychological growth.

今日の職業教育訓練をめぐる論点( 変化する教育訓練とキャリア形成-社会政策学会第122回大会共通論題)

今日の職業教育訓練をめぐる論点( 変化する教育訓練とキャリア形成-社会政策学会第122回大会共通論題)

The system of lawyers training in Japan and its purposes

The process of training lawyers in Japan has certain characteristics. Access to the legal profession is due to the demonstration of knowledge, skills and competencies in a special qualifying examination. This is a state test aimed at checking the competitor`s knowledge and ability to fulfill future duties. Passing the exam is required to obtain the profession of a lawyer, prosecutor or judge. In Japan, now applies a newly unified qualification exam, replacing the previous version. If earlier anyone could take the previous exam, then under the system of the new qualification exam, only those who graduated from Law School were allowed to take it. Such Law Schools were created on the basis of law faculties of universities. However, the exam is not the only condition, and the applicant also needs to undergo a special legal internship at the institute created under the Supreme Court of Japan. Passing an internship serves the interests of the applicant not only because of the addition of his competencies, but also because the bar, the prosecutor`s office, and the judiciary are similarly selecting their own cadres. The internship includes certain exams that you must pass to complete it. In case of successful completion of the legal internship, the applicant is licensed by a lawyer. Despite the apparent harmony of the system of training lawyers in Japan, in the modern form, it is not devoid of a number of problems. The author as a practicing lawyer perfectly sees the existing issues and therefore gives his vision to the system, taking into account the experience of the pre-existing qualification exam and the consequences of the new test, and also referring to the peculiarities of the legal internship and the experience of the existence of Law Schools.

The Challenges and Lessons Learned of Civil Defense Training in Japan

The Challenges and Lessons Learned of Civil Defense Training in Japan

City Profile: Nagoya, Japan

Notebook IT’S A RUNNING JOKE that Nagoya is the most boring city in Japan, and at first glance it seems like there’s some truth to it. It’s not the flashy Tokyo, the bustling merchant city of Osaka, or the shrine and temple-rich Kyoto, so it’s understandable that there isn’t the same tourist traffic. I would argue, however , that there’s more to the city than one could ever explore; it’s simply unassuming. Situated in the western part of Aichi Prefecture, some readers may recognize the city from the idyllic childhood of Haruki Murakami’s protagonist from Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Despite being the third-largest city in the country, there’s a quietness about the city that seems at odds with the population size. Walking around the pristine streets is a peaceful experience. As with any city of its size, Nagoya has pockets that have their own distinct features and unique draws. Anyone who visits the city will likely end up in the downtown district of Sakae at some point, drawn to the vivid lights and tall buildings that stand out amidst the subtler suburban aesthetics that dominate the city. Nightlife thrives in Sakae, at least until the last train, at which point the streets empty into the subway. The glitter of Sakae slowly blends into another district: Osu, a shopping district with covered pathways meandering around the stores whose wares spill outside their shops. Numerous used bookstores pop up here and throughout the rest of the city. Metal racks in front of the stores carry countless pocket-sized novels, which you can see being read on nearly every single train in Japan. At any point during a walk around the city, you can step off of the street and dip into a small restaurant—many barely marked—where local specialties such as abura soba (oil buckwheat noodles) or tebasaki (Japanese-style fried chicken) will leave you barely able to move. Coming from the southern part of the United States, I couldn’t help but feel at home with the heavy fare. If you aren’t quite in the mood to commit to a meal, book cafés are a common sight around Nagoya. As the name suggests, you can sit down with a cup of coffee and freely read the books from their shelves. The city comes alive with festivals throughout the summer. For the Atsuta Festival , the quiet pathways of Atsuta Shrine’s grounds become packed shoulder to shoulder with people jostling for the attention of food vendors, hoping to get their hands on some takoyaki, fried balls of dough and octopus. Attendees are often clad in traditional summer robes called yukata, which flash in an array of vivid colors and patterns. Those in search of the more traditional culture of Japan need look no further than the Nagoya Noh Theater. There one can experience the oldest form of theater art still performed in Japan to this day, Noh. A form of drama focused on minimalist aesthetics, Noh utilizes slow, slight, and intentional movements in order to create pure expressions of emotion. Many Noh plays find their root in traditional Japanese literature, placing familiar stories in an entirely different dimension. Reid Bartholomew is a WLT intern studying writing and Japanese at the University of Oklahoma. When he isn’t writing, he finds himself working with the staff of The Aster Review, a student arts publication at OU. city profile Nagoya, Japan by Reid Bartholomew PHOTO: KINPI3/FLICKR WHAT TO READ ON THE NAGOYA SUBWAY Haruki Murakami Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Trans. Philip Gabriel Vintage Books Sayaka Murata Convenience Store Woman Trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori Grove Press Shun Medoruma In the Woods of Memory Trans. Takuma Sminkey Stone Bridge Press Masatsugu Ono Lion Cross Point Trans. Angus Turvill Two Lines Press Mieko Kawakami Ms Ice Sandwich Trans. Louise Heal Kawai Pushkin Press WORLDLIT.ORG 5 ...

City Profile: Nagoya, Japan

Notebook IT’S A RUNNING JOKE that Nagoya is the most boring city in Japan, and at first glance it seems like there’s some truth to it. It’s not the flashy Tokyo, the bustling merchant city of Osaka, or the shrine and temple-rich Kyoto, so it’s understandable that there isn’t the same tourist traffic. I would argue, however , that there’s more to the city than one could ever explore; it’s simply unassuming. Situated in the western part of Aichi Prefecture, some readers may recognize the city from the idyllic childhood of Haruki Murakami’s protagonist from Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Despite being the third-largest city in the country, there’s a quietness about the city that seems at odds with the population size. Walking around the pristine streets is a peaceful experience. As with any city of its size, Nagoya has pockets that have their own distinct features and unique draws. Anyone who visits the city will likely end up in the downtown district of Sakae at some point, drawn to the vivid lights and tall buildings that stand out amidst the subtler suburban aesthetics that dominate the city. Nightlife thrives in Sakae, at least until the last train, at which point the streets empty into the subway. The glitter of Sakae slowly blends into another district: Osu, a shopping district with covered pathways meandering around the stores whose wares spill outside their shops. Numerous used bookstores pop up here and throughout the rest of the city. Metal racks in front of the stores carry countless pocket-sized novels, which you can see being read on nearly every single train in Japan. At any point during a walk around the city, you can step off of the street and dip into a small restaurant—many barely marked—where local specialties such as abura soba (oil buckwheat noodles) or tebasaki (Japanese-style fried chicken) will leave you barely able to move. Coming from the southern part of the United States, I couldn’t help but feel at home with the heavy fare. If you aren’t quite in the mood to commit to a meal, book cafés are a common sight around Nagoya. As the name suggests, you can sit down with a cup of coffee and freely read the books from their shelves. The city comes alive with festivals throughout the summer. For the Atsuta Festival , the quiet pathways of Atsuta Shrine’s grounds become packed shoulder to shoulder with people jostling for the attention of food vendors, hoping to get their hands on some takoyaki, fried balls of dough and octopus. Attendees are often clad in traditional summer robes called yukata, which flash in an array of vivid colors and patterns. Those in search of the more traditional culture of Japan need look no further than the Nagoya Noh Theater. There one can experience the oldest form of theater art still performed in Japan to this day, Noh. A form of drama focused on minimalist aesthetics, Noh utilizes slow, slight, and intentional movements in order to create pure expressions of emotion. Many Noh plays find their root in traditional Japanese literature, placing familiar stories in an entirely different dimension. Reid Bartholomew is a WLT intern studying writing and Japanese at the University of Oklahoma. When he isn’t writing, he finds himself working with the staff of The Aster Review, a student arts publication at OU. city profile Nagoya, Japan by Reid Bartholomew PHOTO: KINPI3/FLICKR WHAT TO READ ON THE NAGOYA SUBWAY Haruki Murakami Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Trans. Philip Gabriel Vintage Books Sayaka Murata Convenience Store Woman Trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori Grove Press Shun Medoruma In the Woods of Memory Trans. Takuma Sminkey Stone Bridge Press Masatsugu Ono Lion Cross Point Trans. Angus Turvill Two Lines Press Mieko Kawakami Ms Ice Sandwich Trans. Louise Heal Kawai Pushkin Press WORLDLIT.ORG 5 ...

Preparing Japanese surgeons for potential mass casualty situations will require innovative and systematic programs

The ongoing state of global geo-political instability means that it is prudent to prepare civilian surgeons to manage major military-type trauma. Japan has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace and consequently it is unlikely that surgeons will have been exposed to a sufficient volume of cases. This study reviews the state of trauma training and preparedness in Japan and reviews the trauma workload of a major Japanese emergency medical center and compared with a major South African trauma center with the intention of quantifying and comparing the time needed to gain adequate exposure to major trauma at the two centers. The literature describing the surgical burden from a number of recent military missions was reviewed and the core surgical skills to manage military-type injuries were identified. We then went on to review all patients admitted to both Kurashiki Central Hospital (KCH) and Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service (PMTS) following trauma between the period September 2015 and August 2016. The burden of trauma at each center was quantified and the number of core surgical competencies or procedures performed at each center was then reviewed. These were then compared with the number of the core procedures which were performed on the reported military missions. Three reports on military surgical missions were reviewed. These came from the Dutch, French and British military surgical services. The average number of each core procedures performed on each reported military surgery mission are tabulated in the text. The most common procedures were wound debridement and orthopedic fixation, followed by trauma laparotomy, neck exploration and thoracotomy. During the 12month study period, 309 trauma patients were admitted to KCH. Of which 206 (67%) were male, and the mean age was 57years. There were 10 penetrating injuries and 299 blunt injuries. Of the penetrating injuries there were no gunshot wounds. The mechanisms of injury for blunt trauma were as follows: Road traffic accidents (RTAs); 141 (47%), fall; 136 (46%) and other injuries; 22 (7%). In the same period, 2887 trauma patients were admitted by the PMTS. There were 1244 cases (43%) of penetrating trauma and 1644 cases (57%) of blunt trauma in PMTS. The mechanisms of injury for penetrating trauma were as follows: stab wounds (SWs); 955 (77%), gunshot wounds (GSWs); 252 (20%), and other injuries; 37 (3%) and for blunt trauma were as follows: assault; 739 (45%), RTAs; 669 (41%), fall; 166 (10%), and other injuries; 70 (4%). The exposure to all the key competencies required to manage trauma is overwhelmingly greater in South Africa than in Japan. The length of time needed to obtain an equivalent trauma exposure to that achieved in South Africa, working in Japan is prohibitively long. Trauma training in Japan is hamstrung by a lack of clinical material as well as by systematic factors. Training a trauma surgeon is difficult. Developing a trauma system in the country may help address some of these deficits. South Africa in contrast has a huge burden of trauma and sufficient infrastructure to ensure that surgeons working there have adequate exposure to major trauma. Developing an academic exchange program between Japan and South Africa may allow for the transfer of trauma experience and skills between the two countries.

Impact of infrastructure on tax revenue: Case study of high-speed train in Japan

This study analyzes the impact of a high-speed rail line on tax revenues and on the economy of affected regions within the country. The economic impact of infrastructure investment can be induced by changes in tax revenues when the infrastructure is in operation. Accurate regional GDP data are not necessarily available in many Asian countries. However, tax data can be collected. Therefore, this study uses tax revenue dates in order to estimate spillover effects of infrastructure investment. The Kyushu high-speed rail line was constructed in 1991 and was completed in 2003. In 2004, the rail line started operating from Kagoshima to Kumamoto. The entire line was opened in 2011. We estimated its impact in the Kyushu region of Japan by using the differencein-difference method, and compared the tax revenues of regions along the high-speed railway line with other regions that were not affected by the railway line. Our findings show a positive impact on the region’s tax revenue following the connection of the Kyushu rapid train with large cities, such as Osaka and Tokyo. Tax revenue in the region significantly increased during construction in 1991–2003, and dropped after the start of operations in 2004–2010. The rapid train’s impact on the neighboring prefectures of Kyushu is positive. However, in 2004–2013, its impact on tax revenue in places farther from the rapid train was observed to be lower. When th Kyushu railway line was connected to the existing high-speed railway line of Sanyo, the situation changed. The study finds statistically significant and economically growing impact on tax revenue after it was completed and connected to other large cities, such as Osaka and Tokyo. Tax revenues in the regions close to the high-speed train is higher than in adjacent regions. The difference-in-difference coefficient methods reveal that corporate tax revenue was lower than personal income tax revenue during construction. However, the difference in corporate tax revenues rose after connectivity with large cities was completed. Public private partnership (PPP) has been promoted in many Asian countries. However, PPP-infrastructure in India failed in many cases due to the low rate of return from infrastructure investment. This study shows that an increase of tax revenues is significant in the case of the Kyushu rapid train in Japan. If half of the incremental tax revenues were returned to private investors in infrastructure, the rate of return from infrastructure investment would significantly rise for long period of time. It would attract stable and long-term private investors, such as pension funds and insurance funds into infrastructure investment. The last section of the paper will address how incremental tax revenues created by the spillover effects of infrastructure will improve the performance of private investors in infrastructure investment.

日本人の人権意識における職業訓練観 : 職業訓練の社会的評価の根源に関する覚書( 20世紀の産業教育の課題,創立40周年記念特集号)

日本人の人権意識における職業訓練観 : 職業訓練の社会的評価の根源に関する覚書( 20世紀の産業教育の課題,創立40周年記念特集号)

Minimum wage effects on firm-provided and worker-initiated training

This study examined the effects of minimum wages on formal and informal firm-provided training and worker-initiated training in Japan. Economic theory predicts that a minimum wage increase will adversely affect firm-provided training, and while we found that this effect was indeed observed on formal training, with a 1% increase in the minimum wage causing a 2.8% decline in the formal training of workers affected by minimum wage increases, no statistically significant decrease occurred with informal training. Further, although workers can potentially increase their self-learning activities to compensate for any decrease in skill development opportunities in the workplace, we found that an increase in the minimum wage did not increase worker-initiated training. Therefore, the overall effect of an increase in the minimum wage was a decrease in skill development among those workers affected by minimum wages.

CONCUSSIONS IN JAPANESE HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY PLAYERS: RESEARCH ON INJURIES, SYMPTOMS, AND SIGNS

BackgroundIn Japan, sports-related concussions have been a subject of active research in recent years. Among sports played in Japan, concussions occur most frequently in rugby football.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study...

Characteristics and Gender Differences in the Medical Interview Skills of Japanese Medical Students.

Objective To examine the characteristics of the communication skills of medical students, we observed their performance during introductory medical interview training with simulated patients (SPs). Methods The subjects of the present study included fifth-year medical students (male, n=180, female, n=99) who were undergoing clinical training in Japan from 2012 to 2014. Each student was assigned to one of four 10-minute clinical scenarios, which was conducted with an SP. Three or four teachers observed and assessed the performance of each of the students. The overall performance was rated on a 10-point scale, and nine basic communication skills that were common to each of the scenarios were rated using a four-point scale. The students also assessed their own performance on these items. The SPs assessed the students' performance from a patient's perspective on four items. Results There were significant correlations between the teacher and student scores. However, the students tended to score themselves significantly lower than the teachers. The female students were rated significantly higher by the teachers on the following four items; ‘eye contact and appropriate attitude,’ ‘nodding and back-channeling,’ ‘giving empathic verbal responses,’ and ‘acquisition of patient's psychosocial information.’ However, the self-assessments of the female students were only significantly higher than the male students in one item, ‘acquisition of patient's psychosocial information.’ In contrast, self-assessments of the male students were significantly higher in two items; none of their items was scored higher by the teachers. There was no significant gender difference in the assessments made by the SPs. Conclusion There were significant gender differences in the communication skills of the medical students during introductory training, suggesting the possibility that there were gender-specific traits and gender-based differences in the students' degrees of readiness.

Geomantic by Paula Meehan

Reviewed by: Geomantic by Paula Meehan Kathryn Kirkpatrick Geomantic by Paula Meehan, pp. 102. Dublin: Dedalus Press. Distributed by Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY. $15.95 (paper). Paula Meehan’s seventh and latest poetry collection, Geomantic, develops the concerns of her previous volumes, bringing new formal expression to issues of class trauma, ecological crisis, and gender politics. After the extended eulogies of Painting Rain (2009), Geomantic employs a spare and supple form from both the exigencies of life in a public role and the lived experiences of social and political struggle, the inner life always informed by soundings from the outer. Among other influences, Meehan describes these eighty-one nine-line poems., [End Page 148] in which most lines comprise nine syllables per line as formally inspired by Seamus Heaney’s “Postcard from Iceland.” Meehan took up her post as Poetry Professor of Ireland shortly after Heaney’s death, and her choice of form became both a tribute to him as well as a support to herself, “Seamus’s hand that I could grab.” She has also located the formal structure of the book in the memorial quilts for the youth lost to drug addiction in Dublin’s inner-city communities; in this sense, the volume became a counter-commemorative act in a year of official celebrations of the Easter 1916 Rising. And in a late poem in Geomantic, “The Quilt,” we also find this patchwork volume’s deep resonances with women’s communal work, “my grandmother’s quilt I slept under / the long and winding nights of childhood.” Finally, somewhere between the brevity and accreted histories of the haiku and the imperialist-inflected argument of the sonnet, Meehan finds in the nine-line poem employed by Spenser, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Larkin, and Lowell a middle way: she registers the influences of her mentor from the United States’ west coast, Gary Snyder, with his Zen Buddhist training in Japan, as well as of her early studies as a student of the classical myths of Greece (the country where the volume ultimately lands). Indeed, the closing poem of Geomantic, “The Island,” is set in one of Meehan’s spiritual homes on the island of Ikaria in Greece. Her early training as a classicist finds lived expression through her months of embodied writing on that island and communion with its rhythms: “At home again on Ikaria, / our own bee-loud glade.” This opening line of Meehan’s final poem in the volume manages to name not only Greece, but also Yeats and the Irish literary tradition (especially “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”), as well as the influence of the American Romantic tradition in Yeats’s echoing of Thoreau’s Walden. There are new notes for Meehan sounded in this volume, including powerful poems on aging like “The Age of Embrocations and Naps,” “The Old Professor,” and “The Hands.” There is also a widening of the representation of sexuality with the inclusion of poems of same-sex love such as in “The New Regime,” “The Withdrawal,” and possibly “The Sea Cave.” And some familiar themes in Meehan’s work are deepened. Geomantic’s unapologetic anti-rationalist currents pick up that powerfully generative aspect of Yeats’s life and work and bring it fully forward, not only in the book’s title, but also in poems like “The Hexagram” and “The Handful of Earth.” This latter poem insists on a living, responding more-than-human world, a perspective that permeates her sense of poetry and its role in the world. In an interview with Jody Allen Randolph at UCD just before the release of Geomantic, Meehan observed that literary critics are often unaware of how much of themselves they reveal in their own writing. “Poems are like mirrors,” she stated. “People look into them and the poem is reading them, their education, their vocabulary, their emotional tenor; it reads what they bring [End Page 149] to it.” In an era when master narratives and master plans feel palpably insufficient, Meehan’s poems in this volume as in others evoke a humility that should, in turn, humble us as readers, critics, and fellow poets. Her assertion of the wily agency of the poem itself...

The new era of postgraduate certified general practice training in Japan

This paper describes the background to, and the recent evolution of general practice as a recognised medical specialism in Japan (2015), and the evolution of a system of training to support this development. We, the general practitioners (GPs) in Japan have not been recognised as one body of medical specialists and have been training in our own way. A new certified training system will commence in 2018, authorised by a new third organisation, the Japanese Medical Specialty Board. An effective educational system has been developed for medical graduates that have a career intention in general practice that is distinct from other basic medical fields, but collaborates with them. A challenge exists to provide clarity to the Japanese population about what the specialty of general practice is, and what professionals in general practice can do for them. Japan currently has approximately 500 certified GPs and it is unclear at present what numbers will eventually be required. This paper reviews some of the challenges facing the development of general practice from the perspective of the Japan Primary Care Association.

Going beyond your clinic team's SMART objectives to achieve stretch goals

Although setting specific, measurable and assignable objectives is beneficial for your aesthetic clinic, aiming for achievable and realistic goals can sometimes prevent innovation and creativity. In this month's column, Jason Ratcliffe uses the example of the bullet train in Japan to demonstrate how having a team dedicated to a seemingly impossible task can help to turn a dream into a reality

Impact on lesson study for initial teacher training in Japan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how initial teachers in Japan can develop instructional and thinking skills through lesson study with mentors. It will clarify the point of view in which mentors evaluate the lesson plan, research lessons and kyouzai-kenkyuu of initial teachers. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts a case analysis that shows how a mentor gives advice to an initial teacher in the post-lesson discussion. In Japanese lesson study, the time schedule of the post-lesson discussion is well structured, so the time for a mentor to state his or her comment is limited to around ten minutes. Mentors try to help initial teachers develop instructional and thinking skills. Findings – From simple problem to high-level cases in which finding the problem of a lesson is difficult, only a highly competent mentor can find the problem and suggest improvements. Mentors need the competency to observe the lesson and the knowledge and skills to improve the lesson. Research limitations/implications – This paper focusses on how mentors can help develop the kyouzai-kenkyuu understanding of initial teachers. More studies that focus on how mentors can train initial teachers to understand how students learn during lessons are needed. Originality/value – This paper discloses what Japanese teachers think of lesson plans and kyouzai-kenkyuu and how mentors help develop kyouzai-kenkyuu understanding among initial teachers.

A qualitative study of infectious diseases fellowships in Japan.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this research is to elucidate the actual status of Infectious Diseases (ID) Fellowship programs in Japan to improve them further. MethodsWe conducted qualitative interviews with infectious diseases fellows and his/her faculty consultants from 10 institutions providing ID Fellowships in Japan. We qualitatively analysed the data to delineate the actual status of each program and the fellowship program policies overall, and to identify measures for further improvement. ResultsThe interviews revealed that there are largely two kinds of ID fellowships; ID programs entirely devoting full time to infectious diseases, and programs that are subordinate concepts of other subspecialties, where only a portion of hours were devoted to ID. Some institutions did not even have an ID department. Time spent by the faculty consultants on fellows also varied among programs. The desire for improvement also varied among interviewees; some being happy with the current system while others demanded radical reform. ConclusionsEven though there are many ID fellowship programs in Japan, the content, quality, and concepts apparently vary among programs. The perceptions by interviewees on the educational system differed, depending on the standpoints they have on ID physicians. There probably needs to be a coherency in the provision of ID fellowship programs so that fellows acquire competency in the subspecialty with sufficient expertise to act as independent ID specialists. Further studies are necessary for the improvement of ID subspecialty training in Japan.

Gastroenterology Training in Japan

Gastroenterology Training in Japan

Discussion of Mental Training in Japan

Discussion of Mental Training in Japan