2013 Volume 44 Issue 6 Pages 407-413
Introduction: Differences in residency programs between large and small hospitals have not been shown in Japan.
Method: We performed a qualitative analysis of focus-group interviews of residents in community hospitals to investigate characteristics and problems of their residency programs.
Results: We found that residents in community hospitals treated difficult patients with the help of the medical staff; this cooperation was one of the most important characteristics of residency programs. We also found that residents tended to have less experience in emergency medicine and several other specialties.
Discussion: We found that residents in community hospitals learned how to treat difficult patients with the help of medical staff by means of a biopsychosocial model.
