[/floatr]Yomiuri: Masuzoe favors easing rules on foreign doctors
The government should permit foreign doctors who studied medicine at Japanese universities to practice medicine in Japan, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said Monday. Masuzoe said foreign doctors should be allowed to conduct medical activities to help alleviate the shortage of medical practitioners, which is especially serious in underpopulated areas, but with a few conditions, such as limiting their work only to designated structural reform zones...At the meeting, Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida said: "I know a foreigner who got a doctorate at Niigata University's faculty of medicine and wants to practice medicine in Japan. Please let such a person offer their services in a designated structural reform district, even if it's limited to an underpopulated area." The Medical Practitioners Law obliges doctors who have a foreign medical license to acquire a Japanese national qualification before they can conduct medical practices in Japan. However, many foreign doctors are unable to acquire the national qualification because they lack Japanese language ability and other factors...more...
