Family doctors are supposed to be on the front line of health care, tending to routine complaints and referring patients to specialists if the need arises.

But general practitioners are often hard to find in Japan, tucked away in distant university hospitals or simply outnumbered by a glut of specialists.

To combat this problem, a medical association is establishing a nationwide, standardized family-doctor certification system, which has so far been lacking in Japan.

The Japanese Academy of Family Medicine (JAFM), which will oversee the new system, hopes the new program will encourage doctors to set up family practices in local communities.

In fact, the certification system will be specifically designed for doctors planning to set up their own practices.

The first exam in the new program is scheduled to be given as early as this summer. The 10 or so trainees now at the Hokkaido Center for Family Medicine will be the first to take the exam.

Academy officials plan to model their training program on one established in 1996 in Hokkaido. The medical corporate organization Caress Alliance based in Muroran has been operating the Hokkaido Center for Family Medicine to train prospective family doctors.

The four-year training program involves a rotation in different specializations, such as internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics, as well as actual patient care at medical clinics associated with the center.

Certified doctors will be required to take follow-up tests periodically.

The JAFM is consulting on the program with its British counterpart, the Royal College of General Practitioners.(IHT/Asahi: March 10,2005)