Abstract
This study investigated issues pertinent to a new clinical training system by performing a historical evaluation of the internship system during the US occupation of Japan. This study focused on the purpose of the internship system, and is based on two sets of records. The first set of records is Sylvan E. Moolten Papers, 1945-1986, available at the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University. Based on these records, it was possible to clarify the purpose of the internship system and examine the relationship between the General Headquarters, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ/SCAP) representatives and Japanese members of Council on Medical Education (CME). The second set of records is the Public Health and Welfare Section (PHW) documents of GHQ/SCAP available at the National Diet Library, Japan. We examined the minutes of CME and analyzed the design of the internship system proposed by them.
From these records, this study concludes that the internship system aimed to utilize the latest medical developments for treating citizens and developing physician’s abilities for use in both medical education and community medicine. Two plans were used to achieve these aims:(1) break down academic cliques, and (2) reconstruct the health service system through a national medical center plan. However, the former plan was not entirely realized, while the latter ended in deadlock.
These findings suggest that it is crucial to inspect the influence of the new clinical training system on the medical service system, and to redesign them with a view to benefit the entire Japanese medical system.
