Names of clinics where family medicine specialists work

Abstract

The specialty of family medicine has begun to gain recognition in Japan. However, advertising family medicine specialists is not approved, and legislation restricts the naming of clinics, thereby making it difficult for patients and community members to know the specialty of the clinic based on the name alone. This study analyzed the names of 162 clinics registered as facilities employing family medicine specialists, by assessing components of the names and isolating commonly used terms, especially those related to specialties, to find whether they were reflected on the clinic names. The analysis revealed a total of 475 terms and 86 words; 23 words were used in multiple clinic names. The terms “family”, “family medicine”, and “home” related to the specialty of family medicine were used in 24.7% clinic names, and the use of the three words also increased significantly in the past years. The other facilities did not use terms related to the specialty of family medicine in their names, suggesting the need to investigate the awareness about the availability of family medicine specialists in clinics among patients and community members.