Background: Recently launched, the system for granting a medical specialty in Japan raised has concerns about exacerbating the regional maldistribution of medical doctors. The aim of this study is to clarify the characteristics of prefectures that are gathering larger numbers of trainees under this system. Methods: We performed a factor analysis of population structure, medical care and the number of trainees in the system and studied the correlations between the number of trainees and related items. Results: The factor analysis extracted two principal components using Varimax rotation (cumulative ratio of the total variance: 70%). The first principal component suggested an aging society, and the second suggested educational conditions. According to the analysis, the number of trainees was closely related to the educational conditions (1st principal component: -0.19, second principal component: 0.96). In the correlation analysis, the number of trainees closely correlated with the number of doctors in medical school (r=0.80, P<0.001), although it was weakly correlated with urbanization rate (r=0.32, P=0.03). Discussion: This study revealed that the prefectures that are gathering a large number of the trainees are characterized as having a sufficient number of teaching doctors. The trainees might be choosing specific training hospitals to receive relevant specialty training.

Objective: To analyze participants’ opinions regarding the content of clinical training workshops for attending physicians.　Method: A total of 225 people participants in the workshops (approximately 17 hours in 2 days) that were held between 2013 and 2016. We provided the following training sessions: (1) Kawakita Jiro Method (KJ), (2) Process of clinical training, (3) Training program planning procedure, (4) Training objectives, (5) Classification of objectives, (6) Professionalism (PF), (7) 6 Microskills (6MS), (8) Significant event analysis (SEA), (9) Training strategies, (10) Coaching, (11) Educational evaluation, (12) Clinical training systems (CTS), and (13) Roles of attending physicians (RAP). We only used the results of questionnaires obtained from participants who consented to the investigation, and reviewed them for (1) training proficiency, (2) session interest, and (3) course evaluation.　Results: Training sessions showing high proficiency were KJ, RAP, and CTS, and those indicating low proficiency were educational objectives, SEA, and PF. Training sessions that were of great interest were 6MS, Coaching, and KJ.　Conclusion: In the evaluation of the entire course, overall value scored the highest, followed by significance of future participation and applicability of content. Overall, the participants felt that the time for the training course was a little long and that the difficulty level was somewhat high.

　We have conducted a nationwide survey on faculty development for simulation-based medical education in Japan. The response rate was 90%. Forty-seven (68%) schools have implemented faculty development programs for simulation-based education. The most commonly implemented contents were standardized patient development, task trainer, high fidelity manikin operation, and student evaluation, which were related to objective structured clinical examination objective clinical skill assessment. Only 15 percent of medical schools implemented topics on reflective practice, and scientific writing. A constraint on faculty time was the most commonly perceived barrier to simulation use (mentioned by 62 schools; 90%).

　Professionalism is the (right) way of being/doing things as a member of a particular profession. Evaluating legitimacy (right/wrong) of one’s behavior or the behavior of others is a moral judgement. Thus, professionalism is a set of desirable moral characteristics of a particular profession. The education of professionalism firstly promotes learning a set of desirable moral characteristics required in a profession. Secondly, it promotes the resolution of conflict with someone who has different moral characteristics. In this article, a possible learning strategy to promote these learning objectives will be explained based on the emerging knowledge of the science of human morality.