Physicians' knowledge acquisition and skill improvement have relied on individual efforts. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has indicated the guidance of physicians' self-improvement and “working hours”. I conducted a web-based questionnaire survey of obstetrics and gynecology physicians who worked in hospitals nationwide and investigated the physicians' attitudes regarding self-improvement and “working hours”.
The questionnaire was sent to 893 hospitals, and valid responses were obtained from 919 obstetricians and gynecologists from 343 hospitals (response rate: 38.4%). Based on the types of self-improvements indicated by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (which is not considered to be “working hours” in principle), the percentage of obstetricians and gynecologists who answered that they were "accepted now" or "should be accepted" as “working hours”, excluding "studying for graduate school exams." were over the majority. The result revealed that there was a large gap between the institutional interpretation and the doctor's intentions regarding self-improvement and “working hours”.
