OPINION: Japan's plan to cut medical school slots is irrational

Japan's Finance Ministry in April urged a cutback in medical school enrollment in a subcommittee of the Fiscal System Council, arguing that in a country facing population decline, the supply and demand of physicians will balance from 2029 to 2032 and then turn into an oversupply. The government is coordinating policy to reduce enrollment.I cannot support that approach after studying the issue of physician shortages for more than two decades because the debate is not rational.The benchmark for estimating how many doctors are needed should not be population size but medical demand, and one ke…READ FULL ARTICLE