The evolution of the Japanese medical education system: a historical perspective.

The Japanese Medical Education system has been influenced by political events throughout the country's history. From long periods of isolation from the western world to the effect of world wars, Japan's training system for physicians has had to adapt in many ways and will continue to change. The Japanese medical education system was recently compared to the "Galapagos Islands" for its unusual and singular evolution, in a speech by visiting professor Dr. Gordon L. Noel at the University of Tokyo International Research center.1 Japanese medical schools are currently working to increase their students' clinical hours or else these students may not be able to train in the United States for residencies. Knowing the history of the Japanese Medical education system is paramount to understanding the current system in place today. Studying the historical foundation of this system will also provide insight on how the system must change in order to produce better clinicians. This article provides a glimpse into the medical system of another nation that may encourage needed reflection on the state of current healthcare training in the United States.

A review of factors affecting vaccine preventable disease in Japan.

Japan is well known as a country with a strong health record. However its incidence rates of vaccine preventable diseases (VPD) such as hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella remain higher than other developed countries. This article reviews the factors that contribute to the high rates of VPD in Japan. These include historical and political factors that delayed the introduction of several important vaccines until recently. Access has also been affected by vaccines being divided into government-funded "routine" (eg, polio, pertussis) and self-pay "voluntary" groups (eg, hepatitis A and B). Routine vaccines have higher rates of administration than voluntary vaccines. Administration factors include differences in well child care schedules, the approach to simultaneous vaccination, vaccination contraindication due to fever, and vaccination spacing. Parental factors include low intention to fully vaccinate their children and misperceptions about side effects and efficacy. There are also provider knowledge gaps regarding indications, adverse effects, interval, and simultaneous vaccination. These multifactorial issues combine to produce lower population immunization rates and a higher incidence of VPD than other developed countries. This article will provide insight into the current situation of Japanese vaccinations, the issues to be addressed and suggestions for public health promotion.

Bronchitis caused by Bordetella holmesii in a child with asthma misdiagnosed as mycoplasmal infection.

We report a case of a bronchitis caused by Bordetella holmesii in a 2-year-old girl with asthma. The patient had a moderate fever and productive cough, and her condition was initially diagnosed as mycoplasmal bronchitis on the basis of her clinical symptoms and rapid serodiagnosis of mycoplasmal infection. She was treated with a bronchodilator and clarithromycin, which resulted in complete recovery. However, after the initial diagnosis, nucleic acid amplification tests of her sputum showed the absence of both Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Bordetella pertussis infections. Sputum culture showed the presence of a slow-growing, gram-negative bacillus in pure culture on Bordetella agar plates; the bacillus was later identified as B. holmesii. B. holmesii infection is rare in immunocompetent children; however, the organism is a true pathogen that can cause bronchitis in young children with asthma.