Department of Planning, Information and Management, University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan.
Acad Med. 2012 May;87(5):662-7. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31824d47e8.
To investigate career trends for physician-scientists in Japan.
The authors analyzed 1996-2008 biennial census survey data from Japan's national physician registry to examine trends over time in the numbers and proportion of physician-scientists by sex and years since registration. They also analyzed the transition of registered physicians into and out of the physician-scientist field across two sets of two consecutive surveys (1996-1998 and 2006-2008).
The number of physician-scientists between 1996 and 2008 was stable, with a low of 4,893 and a high of 5,325. The number of younger physician-scientists (those registered 0-4 years at the time of the surveys) declined sharply, however, from 828 in 1996 to 253 in 2008. The number of female physician-scientists increased from 528 in 1996 to 746 in 2008. Across the two survey periods, about 30% of physician-scientists left the career path, but this attrition was offset by about the same number of new individuals entering the field.
Although the total number of physician-scientists was relatively unchanged during the period studied, it is essential that educators and policy makers develop approaches to address underlying demographic changes to ensure an adequate age- and gender-balanced supply of physician-scientists in the future.
调查日本医师科学家的职业趋势。
作者分析了日本全国医师注册处 1996-2008 两年一次的普查数据，以研究按性别和注册后年份划分的医师科学家人数和比例的随时间变化趋势。他们还分析了注册医师在两次连续调查（1996-1998 年和 2006-2008 年）之间进入和退出医师-科学家领域的情况。
1996 年至 2008 年期间，医师科学家的数量保持稳定，最低为 4893 人，最高为 5325 人。然而，年轻医师科学家（调查时注册时间为 0-4 年的人）的数量急剧下降，从 1996 年的 828 人降至 2008 年的 253 人。女性医师科学家的数量从 1996 年的 528 人增加到 2008 年的 746 人。在两次调查期间，约有 30%的医师科学家离开了职业道路，但这一流失被大约相同数量的新进入该领域的人所抵消。
尽管在研究期间医师科学家的总数相对不变，但教育工作者和政策制定者必须制定方法来解决潜在的人口变化问题，以确保未来有足够数量的年龄和性别均衡的医师科学家供应。
