Letters of appreciation are given to two first-year students of the regional medical school, which aims to alleviate the shortage of doctors in Ibaraki Prefecture. The governor hopes to “support Ibaraki’s medical care”: Tokyo Shimbun TOKYO Web

In 2009, Ibaraki Prefecture began a project to establish regional quotas at university medical schools to alleviate the shortage of doctors in Ibaraki Prefecture.The first two students who took advantage of the regional quotas completed their work at hospitals in the prefecture last year. On the 23rd, Governor Kazuhiko Oigawa handed out a letter of appreciation at the prefectural office.

The two are gastrointestinal surgeon Hisae Kawashima (33) and gastroenterologist Tsubasa Onoda (35). The medical school regional quota is a project in which the prefecture lends academic funds to students who enroll using this quota. After graduation, if you work at a medical institution within the prefecture for a total of nine years, and for at least four and a half years in an area with a shortage of doctors, you will be exempt from having to repay the full amount.

Mr. Kawashima, who works at Tsukuba Gakuen Hospital (Tsukuba City), recalled his experience working at a hospital in Takahagi City for a time, saying, “We responded to the shortage of doctors by cooperating with nearby hospitals.” Mr. Onoda of the National Hospital Organization Mito Medical Center (Ibaraki Town) cited the benefits of the system, saying, “I’m grateful to receive money every month.”

Both Kawashima and Onoda will continue to practice medicine in the prefecture. Governor Oigawa hoped that the two would “continue to support Ibaraki’s medical care.”

According to the prefecture, as of April 1, there are a total of 70 regional slots for medical schools at 11 universities within and outside the prefecture. As of the same day, 223 people who used the service are working at medical institutions within the prefecture. (Isamu Takeshima)