[Postgraduates' training as laboratory physicians/clinical pathologists in Japan--board certification of JSLM as a mandatory requirement for chairpersons of laboratory medicine].

The educational committee of the Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine(JSLM) proposed a revised laboratory medicine residency curriculum in 1999 and again in 2001. The committee believes that present undergraduate clinical training is insufficient and that Japanese medical graduates need clinical training for two years after graduation. This two years training should be a precondition for further postgraduate training in laboratory medicine and should include fundamental clinical skills(communication skills, physical examination and common laboratory procedures such as Gram's stain, Wright-Giemsa stain and urinalysis). After the two years training, the minimal training period of laboratory medicine should be three years, and should include: 1) Principles, instrumentation and techniques of each discipline including clinical chemistry, clinical hematology, clinical microbiology, clinical immunology, blood banking and other specific areas. 2) The use of laboratory information in a medical setting. 3) Interaction of the laboratory physician with laboratory staff, physicians and patients. With good on-the-job training and 24 hours on-call duties, laboratory physicians are expected to perform their tasks, including laboratory management, effectively. They should have appropriate educational background and should be well motivated. The background and duties of the laboratory physicians often reflect the institutional needs and personal philosophy of the chairperson of their department. At the moment, few senior physicians in Japan have qualifications in laboratory medicine and are unable, therefore, to provide the necessary guidance to help the laboratory physicians in their work. I therefore believe that the board certification of JSLM should be regarded as mandatory for chairpersons of laboratory medicine. Our on-call service system can enhance the training in laboratory medicine, and improve not only laboratory quality assurance but patients' care as well.