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Saturday, March 28, 2020

Low Number of Medical Graduates and Doctors in Japan

According to the latest Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 2018 data, Japan has the least number of medical school graduates per 100,000 population among 35 comparable member countries of the OECD. (Tied with Israel)


Japan's new medical school graduates are 6.9 per 100,000 population, with the average across OECD countries being 13.1 per 100,000 population.  The countries with the highest numbers include Belgium with 28.8 per 100,000; Ireland 24.9; and Latvia 22.1.  Just above Japan and Israel are Korea 7.6; Canada 7.7; and the United States 7.8. 


The number of practicing doctors per 1,000 population in Japan was 2.4, according to the latest OECD data.  The United States is slightly higher at 2.6; and Australia 3.7. Austria is the highest at 5.2 per 1,000 population. (The medical doctors who were over age 55 was 37% in Japan, which is higher than the OECD average of 34%. Japan also had the lowest percentage of female doctors at 21%, with the OECD average being 48% women.) 


With Japan's aging population and the current pandemic, the low number of doctors and medical school graduates in Japan is troubling to me.



Dr. Tachioka

3 comments:

  1. Pamela: It just seems people are more interested in other fields, maybe it is because of the price of schooling and how long it takes to pay off school debt.
    Sad situation.
    Stay Healthy

    Catherine

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  2. I'm not sure how that compares with the US. But I do know that there is a shortage of Primary Care Family Doctors. I read an article that doctors are choosing specialist fields. Whether that is because of the cost of the education to become a doctor would make a great debate. My doc is the same age as me. I have been seeing him since he started his practice. He will retire soon. I dread the day.
    xx, Carol

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  3. I always thought of Japan as having quite a stable medical system. Those numbers indicate otherwise...

    ReplyDelete