Current perception of social accountability of medical schools in Japan: A qualitative content analysis

Abstract

Introduction

The concept of social accountability in medical schools is globally accepted, but data regarding Japanese medical schools are lacking and unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the perception of social accountability of medical schools in Japan and compare this to global frameworks.

Methods

A document on Japanese medical accreditation standards (Basic Medical Education: Japanese Specifications WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement) was used for this study. We included 45 medical schools in a qualitative content analysis done via inductive category formation. The documents were also assessed using the social obligation scale.

Results

Three main categories and 15 categories were identified. The three main categories were as follows: Issues in society, Quality assurance of medical school, and Improvement of individual quality. Most categories were common to those in global frameworks, but some were characteristic of the Japanese context. The distribution of schools on the social obligation scale in six elements varied mainly ‘from responsibility to responsiveness’ or equal unless the elements were promoted by national policy.

Conclusions

The social accountability of Japanese medical schools is mostly common with the global frameworks. Our findings will help the social accountability of medical schools to become better understood and developed beyond contextual borders.

Keywords:

• Global and local context
• institutional accreditation
• social accountability of medical schools

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for English editing.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Glossary

Social accountability: Is the obligation [of medical schools] to direct their education, research, and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns of the community, region, and/or nation they have the mandate to serve (Boelen and Heck 1995).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hiroko Mori

Hiroko Mori, MD is a PhD student at the Department of Medical Education at the University of Tokyo.

Masashi Izumiya

Masashi Izumiya, MD, PhD, FACP, is an assistant professor at the Department of Medical Education at the University of Tokyo.

Mikio Hayashi

Mikio Hayashi, MD, PhD, FACP, is an assistant professor at the Center for Medical Education at Kansai Medical University. He is also an invited researcher at the Department of Medical Education at the University of Tokyo.

Masato Eto

Masato Eto, MD, PhD, is a professor at the Department of Medical Education at the University of Tokyo.