Family doctor

Japan

Family medicine was first recognized as specialty in 2015 and currently has approximately 500 certified family doctors. The Japanese government has made a commitment to increase the number of family doctors in an effort to improve the cost-effectiveness and quality of primary care in light of increasing health care costs. The Japan Primary Care Association (JPCA) is currently the largest academic association of family doctors in Japan. The JPCA family medicine training scheme consists of a three-year programme following the two-year internship. The Japanese Medical Specialty Board define the standard of the specialty training programme for board-certified family doctors. Japan has a free access healthcare system meaning patients can bypass primary care services. In addition to family medicine specialists Japan also has ~100,000 organ-specialist primary care clinics. The doctors working in these clinics do not typically have formal training in family medicine. In 2012, the mean consultation length in a family medicine clinic was 10.2 minutes. A review literature has recently been published detailing the context, structure, process, and outcome of family medicine in Japan.