[Alteration of education programs for anesthesia after the start of the obligatory postgraduate clinical training in Japan: survey at affiliated teaching hospitals of medical schools].

BACKGROUND: There is little information on education programs for anesthesia evaluating the present educational contents of early postgraduate clinical training period. METHODS: A questionnaire that consisted of 40 questions graded from 1 (absolutely unnecessary) to 5 (absolutely necessary) was send to 80 medical universities in Japan to investigate the alterations of education programs for anesthesia at their affiliated teaching hospitals after the start of the obligatory early postgraduate clinical training. RESULTS: Answers were obtained from 59 of 80 universities (74%). Educational necessities after the obligation were significantly reduced at the following items compared with pre-obligation; intravenous anesthesia technique (P<0.05), epidural (P<0.01) and spinal (P<0.05) anesthesia technique, anesthesia for cesarean section (P<0.01), and adult patients of more than ASA PS 3 (P<0.01) and pediatric patients (P<0.05). Contrarily, educational necessities increased significantly in the attending (P<0.01) and presentation (P<0.05) at the academic meetings. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical anesthesia education after the obligation was likely to change the direction to establish the safer anesthesia in patients with low anesthetic risk(s) along with encouraging the trainees to be interested in medicine.