Leadership and Research Productivity in Japan's Academic Departments of Regional Healthcare: A Nationwide Cross‐Sectional Study

Background: Academic departments related to regional health care in Japan play a crucial role in addressing healthcare disparities and workforce shortages. However, a comprehensive understanding of their structures, leadership, and activities is lacking. This study aimed to provide the first nationwide profile of academic departments related to regional healthcare (chiiki iryou) in Japanese medical schools. Methods: and their chairpersons were collected from official university websites and the National Physician Registration Database. To assess research output, a PubMed search was conducted for English-language original articles published over a 2-year period, where the chairperson was listed as the first, second, or last author. Results: A total of 145 chairpersons from 168 eligible departments were included in the analysis. Most of the departments were at national universities (66.1%), were headed by endowed chairpersons (78.0%), who were predominantly male (94.5%). Analysis of chairperson characteristics revealed: (1) a predominance of Internal Medicine specialists (44.1%) and a limited proportion of certified General Medicine specialists (10.3%); (2) limited research output, with 36.6% having no PubMed-indexed articles published during the study period; (3) a research focus primarily on clinical (59.9% of articles) and basic science (15.6% of articles), with few articles focusing on regional healthcare issues. Conclusions: This nationwide study reveals a lack of diversity in chairperson characteristics, with a predominance of Internal Medicine specialists, limited international research output, and a possible mismatch between academic focus and regional healthcare needs.