Raising future forensic pathologists (first report): results of a preliminary questionnaire survey

The shortage of future forensic pathologists is a serious problem both in Japan and overseas. In Japan, however, factors such as government budget cuts and increasing the autopsy rates, make the condition even worse. In an attempt to improve this situation, we implemented a questionnaire survey to investigate the particular features necessary when selecting a career in forensic medicine. As a preliminary study, we sent the questionnaire along with an anonymous answer sheet to all forensic pathologists with a degree in medicine M.D., who were affiliated with universities in Hokkaido and the Tohoku district of Japan as of August 2011. Thirteen physicians in nine universities (response rate 77.8%) returned the answer sheet. Characteristics of participants are listed below: years of experience, board specialty and number of years as board certified specialists, percentage of work effort spent on autopsy practice, the time when they decided to work as a forensic pathologist, the time when to best recommend forensic pathologist as a career, and crucial factors in choosing the specialty of forensic medicine. As a result of this research, we've revealed the importance of undergraduate medical education or the effect on the role models. Furthermore, we've also extracted miscellaneous comments, such as standardization of minimum requirements. In our study, we' ve found some clues to increase future candidates in the field forensic medicine. However, we must collect further samples for our questionnaire survey to validate the study, and, as a future project, we must also address this problem at the congress of forensic medicine.