ABSTRACT
To evaluate a 30-year-old system of graduate entry at Osaka University Medical School, we analyzed the personal profiles and career choices of entrants already holding university degrees. At total of 405 such students have been admitted. Although the number of applicants with degrees decreased during the “bubble period” of asset-inflated economic expansion, it increased after the collapse of the bubble. Ninety-eight percent of graduate entrants were male, and at the time of entrance 82% of entrants were younger than 30 years, with a peak age distribution between 24 and 26 years. Ninety-six percent of entrants were graduates of a national university. Academic degrees held by the graduate entrants were bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in 57%, 36%, and 7%, respectively. Eighty-four percent of entrants had taken science courses before being admitted to our school. After graduation, research in basic medical science was more likely to be chosen as a career by students entering with university degrees than by students entering directly from high school. Although many graduates now hold supervisory positions, such as professor and hospital director, graduate entrants were more likely to enter family medicine than were students entering directly from high school. More than 20 years after graduation, 14% of graduate entrants were working at a university and 44% at a hospital. Furthermore, 9.6% of graduate entrants were professors, 7% were hospital directors, and 27% were family practitioners. These results indicate that our graduate entry system has admitted talented people with a clear purpose in life who received advanced scientific education and has produced a large number of graduates who have assumed leadership positions.