Discussions on the postgraduate medical school and the speciality training course after graduation had been conducted 2 times in 1994 among the members of the working group on postgraduate medical school and speciality training in Japanese Society for Medical Education. Results of the discussion are reported in this paper as a proposal for the improvement of the present state of education and training in the postgraduate medical schools in our country. In this report, several important proposals which need further discussions such as the shortening the clinical course in postgraduate medical school to 3 years from present 4 years and necessity of establishing the obligatory course for training the basic technology for life science research are presented. It is mandatory to have full time teaching staff as well as exclusive space for postgraduate course in each school to improve the of education of postgraduate medical schools.

The clinical competence needed by every beginning resident and the present status of such competencewere examined in August 1998 through questionnaires distributed to clinical educators and the nursing staff of university hospitals and clinical training hospitals designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Completed questionnaires were returned by 576 (65.9%) of clinical educators and nursing staff. With a cluster analysis of the necessity and the present status of clinical competence, 21 items for clinical competence were identified as those most requiring evaluation by the national examination. These 21 items included 11 items for clinical competence in the cognitive domain, 8 items in the psychomotor domain, and 2 in the affective domain. In about half of the direct answers obtained from clinical educators, evaluations were considered necessary for 15 items of clinical competence, of which 13 belonged to the cognitive domain. These results were consistent with the present status. However, practical examinations have also attracted increasing attention, as the results included strong demands that the national examination evaluate some basic clinical skills, such as physical examination and measurement of vital signs. However, about 30 % of authorities governing the national examination thought no changes are needed in the national examination.