Objective: To investigate the role of postgraduate clinical training at the emergency department of Tenri Hospital in teaching the diagnostic process in the general outpatient department.
Method: Patients seen by 11 first-year residents at the emergency department were consecutively registered with summary sheets. Further information was added, and an analysis was performed of: 1) the distribution of chief complaints in the emergency and general outpatient departments and 2) initial diagnoses and the diagnostic process in the emergency department and the final diagnoses.
Results: The distributions of chief complaints in 89 cases in the emergency department and in 183 cases in the general outpatient department were closely correlated (p=0.0016). Diagnoses in the emergency department were correct in 58% of cases. Treatment was incorrect in 3% of cases.
Conclusion: The distributions of chief complaints in the emergency and general outpatient departments were similar. In our hospital the emergency department plays a major role in postgraduate clinical training by teaching the diagnostic process for the general outpatient department. Clinical management, including decision making for further tests and consultation, in the emergency department by first year residents did lead to any major adverse events.

Background: With the marked changes occurring in the medical field, such as rapid population aging, the frequency of one‐dose package use by medication‐dispensing services is increasing.　Pharmaceutical companies promote the development of pharmaceutical products that can be identified based on their color, size, and imprinted information to reduce one‐dose packaging errors and difficulties in tablet identification.　However, there have not been any studies about the effectiveness of such measures for aiding the identification of tablets in the clinical setting.　Therefore, we examined the effects of imprinting on the ease of identification of tablets and capsules.Methods: The study was conducted over a 3‐month period and involved 39 pharmacists aged under 40.　The times they needed to transcribe the characters imprinted on each tablet/capsule were measured.Results: The time needed to identify a tablet was significantly shortened by kana printing (p<0.01), whereas more time was required to identify a capsule when the text color was similar to that of the capsule.　The observed transcription errors included ‘inaccurately transcribing alphanumeric characters' and ‘omitting units or other information.'Discussion: These results suggest that kana printing is effective at increasing the ease of tablet/capsule identification, which is also affected by the color of the printed text.

[Introduction] In accordance with the 2018 revision of the Medical Care Act, prefectures have established career development programs for regional quota physicians aimed at both securing physicians committed to regional medical care and fostering their career development. We have surveyed and reviewed these programs across each prefecture.[Methods] The authors gathered information on the programs, which includes the acquisition of medical specialties, as well as the timing and duration of regional assignments, from the websites of each prefecture. The analysis of start timing and duration was limited to internal medicine.[Results] All prefectures have formulated programs. In more than 30% of the prefectures, regional quota physicians can choose any specialty from all available specialties. The regional assignment typically begins three years post-graduation, with a duration of four years in most cases.[Discussion] This nationwide trend provides a resource to evaluate the state of post-graduate education for regional quota physicians and to consider the future enhancement of these programs.