Abstract
In July 2007, information on the current status of mycological examinations in Japanese university clinics and requests for a university network system was gathered by a questionnaire completed by 98 of 112 professors or directors of those clinics. A summary of the findings follows: only 9% of the hospitals performed fungal culture studies for all or most cases, indicating a drop of 7% from 2000 (16% in 2000, reported by Kasai) . Also, just 55% of relevant departments maintained the ability to identify most or all clinical isolates in-house, which down 27% from 2000 (83% in 2000, reported by Kasai) . These findings indicate that mycological diagnoses by many departments have been rapidly decreasing. Eighty-nine percent of respondents indicated a desire for some help from the university network including: basic training in medical mycology of young doctors (senior residents in university hospitals) ; aid in diagnosing rare fungal infections; and support in obtaining knowledge and new technologies. The basic training of senior residents in each department is not possible in the network system so each department is required to take responsibility for training their own. However, a project of an advanced course at the leader level, which educates the person in charge of each department, may be possible in the network system. Employing this would make it realistic for the educated leaders to train the senior residents in their departments.
