[Postgraduate education and the board certification system from the standpoint of thoracic surgery as one of...

The board certification system for thoracic surgeon has been established as one of subsupecialty fields of the same system of surgery and has been managed by the unique system of joint committee of which member was from both The Japanese Association for Chest Surgery and The Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery. Since then, 5 years have passed and the first renewal of the license was carried out in 2009. Several inconsistencies between the system for surgeon and thoracic surgeon have been corrected and the differences among subspecialty fields were adequately modified during this period. However, further improvement is necessary such as treating the one who cannot renew the license due to inevitable reasons. The program of postgraduate clinical training system in this country also should be reviewed for efficient training for future surgeons, since it contains too much duty for only 2 years. It must be considered that much time is necessary for growing a dependable experienced surgeon whose active working period is shorter compared to other field of medicine.