Training Courses

Introduction
Our resident training course is divided into two categories. One is designed for young physicians and surgeons who have 3-7 years of clinical experience to allow generalists to specialize in clinical oncology. Persons in this course are simply called residents. Their training period is 3 years. We accept about 12 new residents each year. A second more advanced two-year course is designed to produce future leaders in specific fields. Up to 8 medical doctors with 5-12 years clinical experience enter this program every year, and are called senior residents.
In July 1992, when NCCHE opened, the resident training course began with 8 young physicians and surgeons. Although there were many difficulties and problems in the beginning, they continued studying as well as carrying out the daily clinical work in the hospital. We have continued to develop our training systems in close cooperation with staff members of the hospital (NCCHE) and research institute (NCCRIE). At the first resident graduation in 1995, NCCHE introduced the senior-resident system and increased the number of resident we could accept from 8 to 12. As our clinical and academic reputation has grown, NCCHE has attracted quite a few voluntary medical trainees, including doctors, nurses and technicians. Accommodation is available for anyone of the voluntary trainees who elect to stay.

Routine Activities 
The resident curricula at NCCHE consist of two parts, the special and rotating courses. For the initial 6 months residents are trained in disease- or therapy-specific units (q.v. index page) of their choice, in order to know how to find their way of learning. After-wards, they move to the other clinical units (rotating course) for one or one and half years to obtain a wide basic knowledge and to learn the techniques of clinical oncology. After concluding the rotating course they return to their chosen speciality to graduate as medical or surgical oncologist.
Trainees in the senior resident course spend the first year as physicians or surgeons of specific clinical units. The training program for senior residents is more targeted to particular organs, diagnostics and/or therapeutics. Senior residents work as coordinators of residents, whom they support in clinical practice. The second year is devoted to basic or clinical research. Staff members from the Research Institute and clinical laboratories support them at their request.
Voluntary trainees are divided into two groups; those with guaranteed funding from a domestic or international project and others. Various training courses are available for voluntary trainees, although the training period is limited to less than a year for any one major field.


New Developments in 2002
We have overcome many of the difficulties we experienced when we first began the training program at NCCHE, and have improved the training system year by year. As a result, more than 100 trainees have visited here during a year since 1997, as shown in the following statistics. In 2002, the total number of trainees amounted to 160, which was the most during the past 10 years. This is due to increase in the number of voluntary trainees. Among them, 9 of the 59 medical doctors came from overseas countries. Although the numbers of nurses and technicians were equal to those in 2000, their individual training period was more prolonged as in the cases of medical doctors.
In 2002, more than 30 articles have been published in English journals by residents or trainees under the guidance of staff members in the hospital and/or research institute, in addition to their presentations at the international congress such as ASCO meeting and the like.

S. YOSHIDA

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