Finding the measures to counter the shortage and maldistribution of physicians in Japan

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23730264
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied economics
• Research Institution: Shiga University
• Principal Investigator: SANO Hiroshi 滋賀大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (50502316)
• Project Period (FY): 2011 – 2012
• Keywords: 医師 / 内科 / 病院勤務医 / へき地 / 地域偏在 / 転科 / 診療科偏在 / コンジョイント分析

Research Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify potential job characteristics for the workplace shift of Japanese internal medicine physicians, and to find the measures to counter the shortage and maldistribution of physicians in Japan. The results suggested that physicians' choice of workplaces in a remote area was particularly influenced by the following job characteristics: years of service, out of hours work, and annual income. This study also showed that physicians have changed their specialty due in large part to working long hours. Improving these job characteristics will be effective for addressing the shortage and maldistribution of physicians.