We offer 2 types of resident training courses for medical doctors, one is for young doctors and the other is for more experienced doctors. The first training course is designed for young physicians and surgeons with 2 years or more of clinical experience. The objective of this course is to provide opportunity to general practitioners to specialize in clinical oncology, and doctors undergoing this course are called residents. Approximately 15 new residents each year are accepted to this training course, which lasts for 3 years. The second training course is a more advanced 2-year program designed to train future leaders in specific fields. Up to 15 physicians and surgeons with 5-12 years of clinical experience participate in this program every year and they are called chief residents.
When the National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCHE) was opened in July 1992, only 8 young doctors participated in the resident training course. Despite the many difficulties and problems encountered by these doctors, they continued to diligently study and perform daily clinical work at NCCHE. Through the years, we have continued to develop our training systems in close cooperation with hospital staff members and the Research Center for Innovative Oncology (RCIO). From among the resident or senior resident graduates, 20 have been invited to work at NCCHE, 6 at NCCH, and 24 at other cancer centers in Japan despite having a history of only 13 terms, indicating the superior quality of our resident system. A steady rise in the clinical and academic reputation of NCCHE has resulted in an increase in the number of voluntary medical trainees, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and technicians. With the enforcement of the Cancer Control Act in 2007, the number of trainees is expected to further increase, particularly in the fields of medical oncology, palliative care, pharmacy, and radiation therapy. Establishing training courses for these individuals is mandatory.
The curriculum for NCCHE residents consists of 2 parts: special and rotating courses. For the initial 6 months, residents receive training in disease- or therapy-specific units (see the Index page) of their choice to enable them to pursue their special interests. Next, they move to other clinical units (rotating course) for one or one and a half years to strengthen their basic knowledge base and to learn clinical oncology techniques. After completing the rotating course, these residents return to their chosen specialty and graduate as medical or surgical oncologists.
For the 2-year chief resident course, trainees spend their first year as physicians or surgeons at specific clinical units. The training program is focused on the study of particular organs, diagnostics, and/or therapeutics. Chief residents serve as coordinators of residents, whom they support in clinical practice. The second year is devoted to basic or clinical research. Staff members of RCIO and clinical laboratories support chief residents upon request.
Voluntary trainees are divided into 2 groups: (1) trainees who are guaranteed funding from a domestic or international project and (2) others. Various training courses are available for voluntary trainees, although the training period is limited to less than 1 year for any one major field.
We have overcome many difficulties we experienced on launching the training program at NCCHE. Every year, improvements have been introduced not only in the training system for doctors but also in the training system for pharmacists, technicians, nurses, and nursing students. This has resulted in a steady increase in the number of trainees, which exceeded 200 in 2003 and reached 342 in 2004. This steady rise in trainee number was due to the marked increase in the number of medical doctor voluntary trainees and students from the National College of Nursing (established, 2001), as well as those from other nursing schools. Trainees undergo practical training in oncology nursing at NCCHE in accordance with their college curricula in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years. The number of medical doctors markedly decreased once in 2004 and 2006 possibly due to legal amendments to the postgraduate education system in Japan in 2004. In 2007, the number of medical doctors increased again.
In the field of pharmacy, a new resident training system was adopted in 2006. This system was expanded in 2007 and 2008, and further improved in 2008 to meet the qualification requirement for oncology pharmacists.
In 2008, a 6-month training course for medical doctors was launched as one of the action plans of the Cancer Control Act enforced in 2007. Under this program, about 10 doctors were trained. Another new program will be started soon. This is the cancer professional program launched by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a graduate course of Medical Schools, the details of which will be decided.
● H. Esumi ●
| Number of residents, senior residents, and voluntary trainees July 1992-December 2008 |
|||||||
| Voluntary trainees | |||||||
| Resident | C. resident | M.D. | Nurse | Technicians | Others | Total | |
| 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 |
8 15 23 27 31 35 36 34 34 35 36 36 33 35 37 40 39 |
0 0 0 3 6 7 12 12 12 12 12 17 16 18 21 24 23 |
0 0 9 25 37 54 56 62 51 59 60 62 96 48 35 55 63 |
0 9 12 10 1 16 20 17 25 25 12*+24 93*+15 135*+17 170*+4 148*+33 175*+19 208*+35 |
0 4 1 5 3 5 4 3 7 7 7 12 4 3 2**+2 12**+4 12**+14 |
0 0 0 0 2 10 1 27 10 22 23 26 41 24 14 53***+13 60***+13 |
8 28 45 70 80 127 147 155 139 160 174 261 342 302 292 ****395 453 |
| *Practical training for students from the National College of Nursing and other schools ** Pharmacy Residents, *** Voluntary pharmacists, ****Nutritionists |
|||||||
Table of Contents