Department of Infectious Diseases, Okayama University Hospital.
Acta Med Okayama. 2024 Jun;78(3):205-213. doi: 10.18926/AMO/67195.
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has underscored the significance of establishing and sustaining a practical and efficient infection control system for the benefit and welfare of society. Infectious disease (ID) specialists are expected to take on leadership roles in enhancing organizational infrastructures for infection prevention and control (IPC) at the hospital, community, and national levels. However, due to an absolute shortage and an uneven distribution, many core hospitals currently lack the ID specialists. Given the escalating global risk of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases as well as antimicrobial resistance pathogens, the education and training of ID specialists constitutes an imperative concern. As demonstrated by historical changes in the healthcare reimbursement system, the establishment and enhancement of IPC measures is pivotal to ensuring medical safety. The existing structure of academic society-driven certification and training initiatives for ID specialists, contingent upon the discretionary decisions of individual physicians, possesses both quantitative and qualitative shortcomings. In this article, I first address the present situations and challenges related to ID specialists and then introduce my idea of securing ID specialists based on the new concepts and platforms; (i) ID Specialists as National Credentials, (ii) Establishment of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Medical and Graduate Schools, (iii) Endowed ID Educative Courses Funded by Local Government and Pharmaceutical Companies, and (iv) Recruitment of Young Physicians Engaged in Healthcare Services in Remote Areas. As clarified by the COVID-19 pandemic, ID specialists play a crucial role in safeguarding public health. Hopefully, this article will advance the discussion and organizational reform for the education and training of ID specialists.
全球 COVID-19 大流行凸显了建立和维持实用有效的感染控制系统的重要性，以造福和保障社会福利。传染病（ID）专家预计将在提高医院、社区和国家各级感染预防和控制（IPC）的组织基础设施方面发挥领导作用。然而，由于绝对短缺和分布不均，许多核心医院目前缺乏 ID 专家。鉴于新发和再发传染病以及抗微生物药物耐药性病原体的全球风险不断升级，ID 专家的教育和培训是当务之急。正如医疗保健报销制度的历史变化所表明的那样，建立和加强 IPC 措施对于确保医疗安全至关重要。目前，以学术社团为驱动的 ID 专家认证和培训计划的结构取决于个别医生的自由裁量决定，存在数量和质量上的不足。在本文中，我首先讨论了 ID 专家的现状和挑战，然后介绍了我基于新理念和新平台来确保 ID 专家的想法；（i）ID 专家作为国家资质，（ii）在医学院和研究生院设立传染病学系，（iii）由地方政府和制药公司资助的 ID 教育课程捐赠基金，以及（iv）招聘在偏远地区从事医疗服务的年轻医生。正如 COVID-19 大流行所表明的那样，ID 专家在保护公众健康方面发挥着至关重要的作用。希望本文能够推动 ID 专家教育和培训的讨论和组织改革。
