[The new national postgraduate residency program and its relation to the general surgery board in Japan]

The new national postgraduate residency program has been proposed to start from 2004 after long-term discussion. This new program consists of 2 years super-rotating program with focusing onto the primary care. It requires basic clinical training in surgery for 3 months in the first year and extra 6 month can be used for optional period. On the other hand, the new general surgical board system has started from 2002 requiring 5 years training. This period is supposed to include the first 2 years postgraduate residency program. Also, a large number of postgraduate residents move from the University hospitals because the regulation sets the number of residents according to the hospital beds. There are various tasks and problems being proposed for these abrupt changes in the training system of doctors and especially for surgeons. This article summarized the interrelationship and problems with discussion.