Current perception of social accountability of medical schools in Japan: A qualitative content analysis

The concept of social accountability in medical schools is globally accepted, but data regarding Japanese medical schools are lacking and unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the perception of social accountability of medical schools in Japan and compare this to global frameworks.

A document on Japanese medical accreditation standards (Basic Medical Education: Japanese Specifications WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement) was used for this study. We included 45 medical schools in a qualitative content analysis done via inductive category formation. The documents were also assessed using the social obligation scale.

Three main categories and 15 categories were identified. The three main categories were as follows: Issues in society, Quality assurance of medical school, and Improvement of individual quality. Most categories were common to those in global frameworks, but some were characteristic of the Japanese context. The distribution of schools on the social obligation scale in six elements varied mainly 'from responsibility to responsiveness' or equal unless the elements were promoted by national policy.

The social accountability of Japanese medical schools is mostly common with the global frameworks. Our findings will help the social accountability of medical schools to become better understood and developed beyond contextual borders.