Is there disparity between regions and facilities in surgical resident training in Japan? Insights from a national survey

Purpose This study sought to assess the disparity between regions and facilities in surgical resident training in Japan via a national level needs-assessment. Methods A survey was sent to all 909 graduating residents of 2016. Residents trained in the six prefectures with a population of 7 million or more were included in the large prefecture (LP) group. Residents trained in the other 41 prefectures were included in the small prefecture (SP) group. Each group was further divided into a university hospital (UH) group and a non-university hospital (NUH) group. Results The response rate was 56.3% ( n = 512). Excluding nine residents who did not report their prefectures and facilities, surveys from 503 residents were analyzed. The UH group received significantly more years of training. In the SP and UH groups, there were significantly fewer residents who had performed 150 procedures or more under general anesthesia in comparison to the LP and NUH groups, respectively. Self-assessed competencies for several procedures were significantly lower in the SP and UH groups. Conclusion Disparity in surgical resident training was found between regions and facilities in Japan. The surgical residency curriculum in Japan could be improved to address this problem.