The system of the specialty certification of psychiatry of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN) was established in 2005, and certification examination has been conducted since 2009. The Japanese Medical Specialty Board was established in 2014 in order to develop a new common specialty certification system encompassing 19 medical fields, and the training under the new system will be initiated in 2017. Under the new system, a core medical institution heads a group of medical institutions that consist of some hospitals and clinics for the specialty training program, and the core institution is responsible for the training and education of each resident. The committee of the certification examination of psychiatry in JSPN is responsible for administration of the examination. The aims of the examination, consisting of written and oral tests, are to assess knowledge, skills, and the attitude as a psychiatrist and decide whether or not an examinee meets the standards. Because the missions of the specialists are to treat severe and serious cases appropriately as well as to provide people with standard treatment, the role of the oral examination to assess clinical skills is important. However, there is not enough time or manpower to enrich the oral examination under the existing circumstances. Therefore, it is indispensable to assess the skills and attitudes of residents regularly and objectively in the training program. We need to discuss the specialty certification examination thoroughly in order to gain an image of the future of psychiatry in Japan.
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