The Professional Training System for Pediatric Surgeons in Japan : An Analysis and Farsighted Actions

Abstract

The distribution and regionalization of the pediatric surgeons in Japan were analyzed, and some farsighted actions by the Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons (JSPS) were discussed Japan had a population of 126,925,843, a childhood (under 16 years of age) population of 19,910,849 and a total of 1,190,337 births in 2000 The professional education system for pediatric surgeons by the JSPS had 132 certified training institutions, 208 certified instructors for pediatric surgical training, and 412 pediatric surgical professionals in 2000 Target populations for each unit were, 150,840 children and 9.018 births for an institute, 95,725 children and 5,723 births for an instructor, and 48,327 children and 2,889 births for a professional respectively. Although, these numbers would be considered as appropriate for the training system, the tendency for a continuous decrease in the number of children over several decades will force the JSPS to introduce some regulations in the near future. The uneven distribution of institutes, instructors, and professions is a problem to be resolved presently. The areas not equipped with these facilities had a large number of children, and the target population of facilities differed about 10 times between the overcrowded and sparse density area of pediatric surgeons.