%0 Journal Article %A Tokuda, Y. %A Goto, E. %A Otaki, J. %A Jacobs, J. %A Omata, F. %A Shapiro, M. %A Soejima, K. %A Ishida, Y. %A Ohde, S. %A Takahashi, O. %A Fukui, T. %T Educational environment of university and non-university hospitals in Japan %J Int J Med Educ %D 2010 %P 10-14 %V 1 %P 10-14 %R 10.5116/ijme.4ba1.4034 %U http://www.ijme.net/archive/1/educational-environment-in-hospitals-in-japan/ %G eng %7 March 19, 2010 %K educational environment %K postgraduate medical education %K university hospital %X Objectives: The greater satisfaction of residents in non-university hospitals in Japan found in a previous survey may reflect a better educational environment in these hospitals compared to university hospitals. We aimed to compare the educational environment of university hospitals and non-university hospitals. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was sent to 6725 1st year resident physicians. The Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) was used as a reliable and validated instrument to evaluate the educational environment of teaching hospitals. Results: A total of 2429 PGY-1 physicians-in-training (38% women) completed the questionnaire (response rate, 36%). The mean total scores on the PHEEM ranged from 77 to 125 (mean, 99) for 80 university hospitals, and from 46 to 149 (mean, 102) for 255 non-university hospitals. The PHEEM score was significantly higher for non-university hospitals compared to university hospitals (p=0.001). Among the top ten of hospitals with the greatest scores, there were nine non-university hospitals but only one university hospital. Conclusions: The difference in educational environment may explain the greater satisfaction of non-university residents in Japan and account for the massive shift of residents from university to non-university hospitals after introduction of the new postgraduate medical education program in Japan.