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A snapshot of surgical resident training in Japan: results of a national-level needs assessment survey

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the status of surgical training in Japan through a national-level needs assessment.

Methods

A survey was sent to all 909 graduating residents (GRs) and their 611 program directors (PDs) for the year 2016. A working group of surgical educators from around the country was formed under the education committee of the Japan Surgical Society. The survey items were developed by consensus of this working group. The survey investigated the knowledge and problems of the current curriculum, and the status of the current residency training.

Results

The response rates were 56.3% of the GRs and 76.8% of the PDs. Among the participants, 47.6% of the GRs and 29.4% of the PDs believed that the residency curriculum did not match the clinical experience. Over 80% of the GRs and PDs agreed on the importance of training outside of the OR, whereas only 13% of the GRs had received such training regularly. Trainees also reported a lower satisfaction rate about the opportunity to train outside of the OR.

Conclusion

This national-level needs assessment of surgical training in Japan identified several gaps in the curriculum. These results provide valuable data to assist the ongoing efforts for surgical residency curriculum improvement.

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Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the Association of Surgical Education, Surgical Education Research Fellowship (SERF) program for supporting Dr Saseem Poudel during this project. We thank all those who participated in this survey and we also thank Hidetaka Suzuki, Takamichi Sugiyama, Suguru Kuramochi, Azumi Hirano and the staff of the Japan Surgical Society Secretariat for providing logistics support during this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery II, Hokkaido University Faculty of Medicine, Kita 15 Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan

    Saseem Poudel, Satoshi Hirano & Yo Kurashima

  2. Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA

    Dimitrios Stefanidis

  3. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan

    Hirotoshi Akiyama

  4. Department of Surgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan

    Susumu Eguchi

  5. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kumamoto University Hospital, Kumamoto, Japan

    Toshihiro Fukui

  6. Department of Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

    Masaru Hagiwara

  7. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Daisuke Hashimoto

  8. Department of Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Koya Hida

  9. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Tomoko Izaki

  10. Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan

    Hirotaka Iwase

  11. Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Japan

    Shunsuke Kawamoto

  12. Trauma and Acute Critical Care Medical Center, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiro Otomo

  13. Department of Surgery and Oncology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Eishi Nagai

  14. Department of Breast Oncology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Mitsue Saito

  15. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

    Hideki Takami & Yasuhiro Kodera

  16. Division of Medical Education, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Yuko Takeda

  17. Department of Breast Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Masakazu Toi

  18. Second Department of Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan

    Hiroki Yamaue

  19. Department of Medical Education, Graduate School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita, Japan

    Motofumi Yoshida

  20. Department of Thoracic Surgery, International University of Health and Welfare School of Medicine, Narita, Japan

    Shigetoshi Yoshida

Authors
  1. Saseem Poudel
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  2. Satoshi Hirano
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  3. Yo Kurashima
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  4. Dimitrios Stefanidis
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  5. Hirotoshi Akiyama
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  6. Susumu Eguchi
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  7. Toshihiro Fukui
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  8. Masaru Hagiwara
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  9. Daisuke Hashimoto
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  10. Koya Hida
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  11. Tomoko Izaki
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  12. Hirotaka Iwase
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  13. Shunsuke Kawamoto
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  14. Yasuhiro Otomo
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  15. Eishi Nagai
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  16. Mitsue Saito
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  17. Hideki Takami
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  18. Yuko Takeda
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  19. Masakazu Toi
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  20. Hiroki Yamaue
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  21. Motofumi Yoshida
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  22. Shigetoshi Yoshida
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  23. Yasuhiro Kodera
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satoshi Hirano.

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Conflict of interest

Saseem Poudel and his co-authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Poudel, S., Hirano, S., Kurashima, Y. et al. A snapshot of surgical resident training in Japan: results of a national-level needs assessment survey. Surg Today 49, 870–876 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-019-01819-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-019-01819-4

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