Factors Encouraging Internal Medicine Specialists in Japan to Move towards Certification as General Practitioners

In Japan, a new medical specialist system started in 2018 and has established the "Comprehensive Medical Specialist" program. The Japan Medical Agency allows specially-appointed supervisors, such as specialists in particular branches of internal medicine, to transfer to the "general practitioner" program. These specialists are often considered as reserve general practitioners. In April 2016, we conducted a survey of 2,666 randomly selected specialists in 11 societies related to the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine. Of the 404 who responded (15.2% response rate), 142 (35.1%) were "certification-oriented." Logistic regression analysis with the outcome of desire for certification as a general practitioner (yes = 1) showed odds of 2.293 (95% confidence interval: 1.379-3.811) for "cannot take the necessary time to prepare" and 12.417 (95% confidence interval: 2.856-53.986) for "should be eligible to take the exam without leaving my current job." Creating an environment that allows specialists in internal medicine across various specialties to prepare for certification as a general practitioner, while continuing to work in their current positions, would help to increase the number of high-quality general practitioners to supply the need in Japan.