General practice departments of university hospitals and certified training programs for general practitioners in Japan: A nationwide questionnaire survey

Background In the reform of specialist training by Japanese Medical Specialty Board, general practice is expected to be one of 19 core specialties. University departments of general practice can play a central role in training board-certified generalists, but whether they are actually preparing to do so is unknown. Method We sent a questionnaire to 79 universities and requested to forward it to the general practice department. Fifty-six departments of general practice (37 public and 19 private universities) completed the questionnaire (response rate 71%). Results Fifty-one (91.9%) universities planned to be the base institutes of certified programs. The annual seats per program ranged from 2 to 20 (median 5). In these 51 university-based programs, 33 (64.7%) departments provide the general practice II element. Twenty-eight (54.9%) require the program trainees to belong to the departments (do nyukyoku) and 11 (21.6%) recommend that they do so. Forty-seven (92.2%) programs had affiliated institutions in rural areas. Thirty-nine (76.5%) were willing to accept graduates of regional quota (chiikiwaku). Twenty-nine (56.9%) program directors took into account the obligatory service of regional quota when making the programs. Programs that accept regional quota graduates were more likely to be affiliated with rural institutions (P=.002) and conscious of the obligatory service in making the program than other programs (P<.001). Conclusion Most of the university departments have their own training programs. Many of them are willing to accept nyukyoku doctors and regional quota graduates. Universities intend to play an important role in graduating generalists and supporting their careers.