Board certification in Japan: corruption and near-collapse of reform

The board certification system in Japan is undergoing reform, but it is likely to be watered down without significant improvement.

Traditionally, Japanese doctors had not given weight to board certification. Instead, they used to attach a high value in obtaining academic credentials such as a doctor's degree (PhD) by entering graduate schools. Until the 1990s, almost all doctors went through postgraduate training at university hospitals after graduation and these hospitals tended to be more academic than clinical. This tendency resulted in a lack of clinical skills among Japanese doctors.1 Because of the criticism that Japanese doctors lack clinical competence, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare in Japan mandated all doctors to have 2 years of official postgraduate clinical training beginning in 2004, either at university hospitals or at other community hospitals.2 As a result, more than half of the medical students that graduated elected to have...

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