Doctors to be vetted on endoscopic surgery, Japan

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Article Date: 28 Jun 2004 - 10:00 PDT

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The Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery plans to establish skill standards for the certification of reliable surgeons to perform endoscopic operations to ease patient concerns amid a growing number of cases of medical malpractice caused by inexperienced surgeons.

The number of endoscopic operations, which minimize the invasive impact on patients, has increased rapidly, but because there is little monitoring of surgeons' skills, the 6,000-member society, chaired by Keio University Prof. Masaki Kitajima, plans to establish standards to vet surgeons' skill levels and increase the number of successful operations.

The skill standards will be based on surgeons' general abilities, including the number of operations they have conducted, their skills and judgment as related to gastroenterology and general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and urology.

It will be the first unified standard in the nation for surgeons' skills.

Only surgeons specializing in gastroenterology and general surgery who have conducted more than 50 operations to remove gallbladders; surgeons specializing in urology who have conducted more than 20 operations to remove adrenal glands; or obstetric and gynecologic specialists who have conducted more than 100 operations are eligible for certification.

MORE......The Daily Yomiuri, Japan

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