PP26-110

Activities of the Young Primary Care Doctors Organization of the Japan Primary Care Association? For Developing Primary Care in Japan
H. YOSHIMOTO , K. KINJO , M. UI , T. TOI and K. SATO Department of Family Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine & Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, b Department of Family Medicine, Aso-Iizuka Hospital, Iizuka-Kaita Family Medicine Residency Program, c Japan, Department of Emergency and General Medicine, Tokyo Metropolitan Tama Medical Center, Japan, d Department of Family Medicine, Centre for Family Medicine Development, Japanese Health and Welfare Coe operative Federation, Japan, Department of General Practice, General Practice and Medical Education Center, Hokkaido Kin-Ikyo, Japan
a a b c d e

In Japan, primary care is undeveloped compared to many other countries. For a long time, only specialists were trained at medical schools and primary care physicians gained their knowledge during their regular daily work. In 2004 a new matching system was established to select a hospital for primary residency following graduation from medical school, and also to choose at which city hospital residents should do their training, including primary care training. Before 2007 there were few primary care programs, but in that year some 66 residency programs were established. In 2004, representatives of residents, recent residency graduates of the Japanese Academy of Family Medicine and young family medicine doctors in the association agreed the following principles: 1) to study and learn primary care, 2) to attempt to overcome daily problems and concerns, 3) to share knowledge and thoughts with other young physicians. In 2010, the Japan Primary Care Association joined with the Japanese Academy of Family Medicine, the Japanese Association of Primary Care, and the Japanese Association of General Medicine to form one national specialist association. In the same year, the 4th Young Primary Care Doctors Organization of the Japan Primary Care Association established links with the organization. Our members have diverse backgrounds (a family physician at a university, a family physician at a private clinic, a family medicine resident, a generalist at a public hospital and a general medicine resident), and we believe our organizations diversity could be important in developing primary care in Japan. The activities of the 4th Young Primary Care Doctors Organization are 1) supporting young doctors projects, including annual medical seminars with young physicians and medical educational seminars (a project involving 80 medical schools in Japan), 2) supporting the PCAT (Primary Care for All Teams) project to translate medical information for physicians in the Tohoku area, following the earthquake, 3) encouraging medical school students and young residents to become generalists & to inform residency programs about family medicine, primary care and general medicine by making portfolios and answering questions, 4)showing our activities on our internet blog (http://blog.livedoor.jp/pc_wakate/), 5) writing about medical topics with case reports in a monthly primary care medical magazine. Primary care physicians are in demand to support the medical care system in Japan and to work with specialists. We believe our activities may contribute to the development of primary care in Japan. Keywords : Family Medicine, The Japan Primary Care Association, The Young Primary Care Doctors Organization