Introduction: To visualize the damage to primary care facilities in Miyazaki prefecture caused by the Nankai Trough earthquake by collating GIS data and to propose feasible countermeasures based on the estimated damage.

Methods: The merged data of the estimated tsunami damage downloaded from the service for numerical information on national land use created by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism were combined with the data of medical institutions collected from the regional medical information system of the Japan Medical Association.

Results: Of the 721 clinics and 140 hospitals, 139 clinics and 31 hospitals were affected, with 521 and 4,713 beds, respectively. By medical area, regions in which more than 50% of the clinics and hospitals were affected included the northern region of Nobeoka Nishi-usuki (clinics, 58.7%; hospitals, 60.0%) and Hyuga Irigo (clinics, 84.2%; hospitals, 61.5%), revealing a disproportionate estimate of damage.

Conclusion: To deal with long-term damage, joint operation among regional facilities in neighboring prefectures is essential for a community continuity plan. Care facilities can take initiatives for cooperative disaster risk reduction planning with residents.

Introduction: This study compared perceptions of interprofessional collaboration and recognition of work between clinic/small hospital staff and those at regional core hospitals.

Methods: An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was administered to the staff at 4 clinics/small hospital and those at 3 regional core hospitals responsible for regional medical care. The following items were compared between the 2 groups: Assessment of Interprofessional Team Collaboration (AITCS) Japanese version, Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) Japanese version, workplace satisfaction, and relationship with neighboring facilities.

Results: The subjects were 74 staff members at clinics and small hospital and 576 staff members at regional core hospitals; their average ages were 41.9 years and 40.6 years, respectively. Compared to staff at regional core hospitals, those at the clinics and small hospitals had significantly higher AITCS scores, RIPLS scores, and workplace satisfaction, and they also considered their institutions to have better relationship with neighboring facilities.

Conclusion: The staff of clinics and small hospital were more aware of interprofessional collaboration than hospital staff, and were more satisfied with their workplaces. Understanding the underlying organizational differences may facilitate vertical integration in community-based integrated care systems.

In 2019, a team composed of medical and health economics educators and a family medicine trainee from the Department of Community and Family Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, and the School of International and Public Policy, Hitotsubashi University, Japan, embarked on a study tour to Toronto, Canada, a leading country in family medicine education and training. During this tour, the team visited the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and affiliated hospitals to observe family medicine training in practice, which included video review and feedback for trainee development. In addition, they visited a practice attached to a legal clinic, with subsequent learning about the medico-legal interface and responsibilities of Canadian family doctors. The team gained first-hand insight into family medicine training along with an understanding of a healthcare system that values primary care.