Differences between Anesthesiology Residency Education Programs in Japan and the USA

: New anesthesiology residency education program requirements were launched in Japan. The main change was to specify which anesthesia cases a resi- dent must experience during the training period. We believe that comparing the educational requirements between anesthesiology specialty certification programs in Japan and the USA is a timely undertaking. This detailed comparison study is aimed to identify compo- nents to improve the current educational systems in each country. Three educational components are required in the USA, but not in Japan: daily clinical evaluations based on well-defined criteria, regular lectures and nation- wide annual achievement tests, and national board- accredited subspecialty fellowships. Conversely, in Japan, scholarly presentations at scientific meetings are mandatory for anesthesiology board certification, but the scholarly activity requirement in the USA is vaguely defined. These points identified through our comparison could help improve residency training programs in both Japan and in the USA.