On January 1, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the following regarding the basic concept of judgment regarding the applicability of working hours related to the training of doctors, including the basic concept of doctors working at university affiliated hospitals whose primary duties include education and research. Clarified again.
What has been revised and added this time is No. 1989 No. 7 of the Office of the Chief Inspectorate dated July 1, 0701 (Reiwa 1), ``Standards for permission to work overnight shifts for doctors, etc. and the concept regarding working hours related to the training of doctors.'' ``Points to keep in mind'', the section ``F'' points to keep in mind in the operation of working hours notices related to doctors' training.
According to this, doctors working at university affiliated hospitals, etc. must "participate in and prepare presentations at academic conferences and external study sessions," which is listed in the "Specific Contents of Training" in the Working Hours Notice for Doctors' Training. Since their primary duties include writing papers, etc., education and research conducted as their primary duties are included in the terms ``original duties such as medical treatment'' and ``original duties such as medical treatment'' in the same notice.
Therefore, education and research, as well as accompanying lectures to students at medical schools, preparation and grading of exam questions, guidance on the preparation and presentation of essays by students, and administrative work related to university entrance exams and national exams are essential. Naturally, preparation and post-processing, etc., are considered working hours, regardless of whether or not they occur during regular working hours.
In addition, if training that is directly related to the education and research that is currently being carried out as part of one's original work is carried out during regular working hours at a work location (inside a hospital, etc.) designated by the employer, it will naturally be counted as working hours. It has been clarified that cases performed outside of regular working hours under explicit or implicit instructions from a superior generally fall under working hours.
Regarding training, it is necessary to pay particular attention to smooth communication between the doctor and his/her superior regarding the relevance of training to the actual work, and to conduct sufficient confirmation to ensure mutual understanding between both parties.
The ``Doctor Work Style Reform'' starting in April 2024 will impose a cap on overtime work with penalties. With hospitals becoming public and trying to reduce working hours, attention has been focused on how to differentiate between voluntary "self-improvement" and "preparation," which are considered to be one of the causes of long working hours.
Regarding working hours, if the proportion of "research" decreases, it becomes difficult to maintain medical standards and develop new medical technology, and if the proportion of "education" decreases, medical school education will be affected, and excellent doctors will be etc. will become difficult to produce. For this reason, there is an urgent need not only to shift tasks, but also to secure staff to support research and education and promote ICT.
