The Japan Neurosurgical Society, GIA (General Incorporated Association) Regulations for the Board Certification System
Determined by the administrative board on May 15, 2004
Revised on January 24, 2010
Revised on April 3, 2011
Revised on March 1, 2012
Article 1 Objectives of This System
Physicians shall be certificated as a board certified member in order to develop high-caliber physicians majoring in neurosurgery, accelerate the progress of neurosurgical science, improve the level of neurosurgical practice, and contribute to the national welfare.
Article 2 Method of Certification
Applicants who are qualified for certification shall be certified by the Board Certification Committee (hereinafter, referred to as “the Certification Committee”).
2. Certified physicians shall be provided with a certificate and called Board certified neurosurgeon.
3. The details on the certification system shall be separately stipulated as the internal regulations for the board certification system.
Article 3 Duration of Certification and Qualification Renewal
The duration of certification for the board shall be defined as five years, and the qualification shall be renewed every five years.
2. The details on the renewal shall be separately stipulated in the internal regulations on the lifelong learning system for Board.
Article 4 Deprivation and Revocation of Board Certification
Board who fall under one of the following cases shall be deprived of certification.
(1) He/she failed to renew the board qualification.
(2) Renewal of the board qualification was not approved.
(3) He/she declined the board qualification.
(4) He/she was deprived of the regular membership of the Japan Neurosurgical Society.
(5) He/she was deprived of the qualification as a physician
2. Board who fall under one of the following cases may be deprived of certification through discussions by the Board of Directors after a decision was made by the Certification Committee.
(1) The case where it turned out that false information had been provided during the application procedure for board certification or the renewal procedure for the board qualification.
(2) The case where he/she was deprived of a medical license.
(3) The case where it was confirmed that he/she had acted improperly as the board.
Article 5 Internal Regulationsn
Necessary internal regulations shall be separately stipulated for operation of the system.
Supplementary Provisions
1. Approval by the Administrative Board shall be required when any change is made to the regulations.
The Japan Neurosurgical Society, GIA (General Incorporated Association) Internal Regulations on the Board Certification Program
Established on May 15, 2004
Revised on October 4, 2005
Revised on September 30, 2008
Revised on January 24, 2010
Revised on March 1, 2012
Revised on October 15, 2013
Revised on October 8, 2014
Revised on October 13, 2015
Article 1 Committee
The Board Certification Committee (hereinafter referred to as “the Certification Committee”) shall be established by the Japan Neurosurgical Society in order to execute all tasks related to the operation of the certification system of board.
2. The Certification Committee shall comprise one chairperson, some vice-chairpersons, and committee members elected based on the provisions for election of the Board Certification Committee members specified separately.
3. The Postgraduate/Curriculum Committee, which is in charge of the practical operations regarding training of board, shall be established under the Certification Committee.
4. A board certification examination shall be conducted once a year on the day determined and announced by the Certification Committee.
5. The Office shall be located in the head office of the Japan Neurosurgical Society.
Article 2 Eligibility Requirements for Examination and Certification Criteria
Certification of board shall be determined by the Certification Committee through written and oral examinations after a review of the eligibility for the examination.
2. The eligibility requirements for the examination are as follows:
(1) To have a Japanese medical license.
(2) To have undergone the given training for at least 4 years in total based on the special training program specified in Article 6 after 2 years of a postgraduate clinical training (a physician under a training for neurosurgical board is called a “resident physician”); provided, however, that the applicant must engage only in clinical neurosurgery for at least 3 years during the training and be enrolled in a special training core hospital for 6 months or more and undergo an training for at least 3 years in total at a core hospital and a special training branch hospital.
(3) To achieve the target for case experiences described in Appendix, make a presentation as a lead speaker at an academic conference (5 or more lifelong learning credits) more than once and write research papers (regardless of whether they are written in English or Japanese) as a lead author and have one or more of them adopted and accepted (peer reviewed).
(4) To submit the documents specified in Article 3.
(5) To have been a full-fledged member for at least 4 years and be admitted to be qualified for certification by a general manager of the training program that the applicant belongs to (“General Manager”) specified in Article 7.
(6) To have been a supporting member for at least 2 years, to have engaged only in clinical neurosurgery for at least 2 years at a given institution, and to be admitted to be qualified for the certification by the General Manager if the applicant is a foreign physician who does not have a Japanese medical license.
3. The applicant may participate in a training in the related departments (neurology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, neurobiochemistry, neuropharmacology, general surgery, and anesthesiology) at the discretion of the General Manager. Fundamental research shall be recommended during the period of the training.
4. The eligibility for the examination for applicants who have undergone a part of or the entire training in a foreign country shall be reviewed individually by the Certification Committee.
Article 3 Application Procedures for Certification
Physicians who want to be certified as board shall pay the given fee for the review by the specified date and submit the following documents to the Certification Committee.
(1) Application for certification;
(2) A copy of a medical license;
(3) A list of cases of the target for case experiences specified in the appendix and the training record on which target achievement assessment is described; and
(4) Other documents specified by this Society.
Article 4 Registration of Board Certified Members, Delivery of Certificate
Physicians who are certified shall be registered in the list of Board certified members of this Society and delivered with certificates after paying given certification fees by the specified date.
Article 5 Exemption of Written Examination
Physicians who have passed the written examination and failed the oral examination shall be exempted from the written examination next year and the year after the next.
Article 6 Requirements and Certification for the Training Program
A training program (hospital group) comprises a core hospital (single) and branch hospital (multiple allowed) stipulated in Articles 7 and Article 8, and may include the related hospitals (multiple allowed) stipulated in Articles 9, if necessary. The training required by the eligibility requirements for the board certification examination stipulated in Article 2-2 hereof shall be completed at such core hospital and branch hospitals, in principle, and such related hospitals shall play a complementary role. The training program shall be approved by the Certification Committee after consideration by the Postgraduate/Curriculum Committee.
2. Overall training programs must meet the following requirements:
(1) The institutions must be equipped with devices, including radionuclide test devices, such as SPECT/PET, intraoperative navigational systems, electrophysiological monitoring systems, endoscopes, stereotactic instruments, and radiotherapy units.
(2) Smooth and adequate support must be obtained for the training from the following academic societies.
a. Academic association related to brain tumors (Japan Society for Neuro-Oncology, Japan Society of Brain Tumor Pathology, Japan Society for Hypothalamic and Pituitary Tumors, Japanese Congress for Brain Tumor Surgery)
b. Japanese Society on Surgery for Cerebral Stroke
c. Japanese Society for Neuroendovascular Therapy
d. Japanese Society of Spinal Surgery
e. Japanese Society for Neuroendoscopy
f. Epilepsy Surgery Society of JAPAN
g. Japan Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
h. Japanese Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
i. The Japan Society of Neurotraumatology
(3) In principle, the following numbers of surgeries must be performed in total at a core hospital and branch hospitals.
a. 500 cases or more per year
b. 50 cases or more of tumors (including craniotomy, transanal surgery, and stereotactic biopsy)
c. 100 cases or more of blood vessel impairment (including craniotomy and endovascular surgery)
d. 20 cases or more of craniotomy for head injury (excluding trepanation)
3. The number of resident physicians for a training program and each special training institution shall be not more than 2 per training physician for the special training at a time.
4. The annual procedure and the purpose of a training conducted at each institution shall be exemplified.
5. In order for resident physicians to rotate smoothly in a training program, the training program shall be conducted in a region surrounding a core hospital, in principle, in consideration of regional characteristics. If a remote place is included, the reasons thereof shall be provided.
6. The General Manager shall make a report of the program in a given form every year and make a notification along with the report if there is any change in a branch hospital, a related hospital of the training program, or a training physician affiliated with the training program.
7. The Postgraduate/Curriculum Committee shall reassess the training program 3 years after the application, notify the General Manager of large deviations from the requirements for the training program, if any, and make a recommendation for improvement. If such deviations are not considered to have been corrected, the Postgraduate/Curriculum Committee may request revocation of certification of the training program to the Certification Committee.
8. Re-application for certification shall be made for a certified training program every 5 years.
Article 7 Core hospital
The core hospital shall be an advanced treatment hospital or an institution that meets the following conditions:
(1) To perform 300 or more operations per year (excluding Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy).
(2) To have one General Manager (the department head, the person in charge of medical care, or the person holding a similar post certificated as a training physician specified in Article 10 and is 65 years old or younger when applying for the training program and submitting an annual report) and 4 or more training physicians other than the General Manager.
(3) To periodically hold a conference with other departments.
2. The core hospital shall give guidance to the branch hospitals and the related hospitals to conduct a training/education for board according to the recommended curriculum specified separately.
3. The General Manager shall be responsible for the supervision of the training system, contents, and assessment of the entire training program. Simultaneously, he/she also shall be responsible for the training system, contents, and assessment as the person in charge of training management at the core hospital.
4. The core hospital shall be able to participate in another training program only as a Related Hospital, not as a branch hospital.
5. The core hospital shall establish a training program management committee that comprises the General Manager and the person in charge of training management at a branch hospital (“Training Manager”) and shall perform the management and operation of the resident physicians and the overall training program and strive for continuous improvement of the training program.
Article 8 Branch hospitals
The branch hospital shall meet the following conditions:
(1) To have one person in charge of training management (the medical department head, or the person holding a similar post certificated as a training physician specified in Article 10) and 2 or more training physicians. The person in charge of training management can be a training physician at the same time.
(2) To hold a case conference.
2. The Training Manager shall be responsible for the training system, contents, and assessment at the branch hospital.
3. The branch hospital shall be able to participate in another training program only as a related hospital and may not participate in multiple training programs as a branch hospital.
4. The branch hospital shall establish a branch hospital training management committee, which comprises the Training Manager and training physicians, and then educate, direct, and assess the resident physicians, share information regarding the resident physicians and strive for improvement within the institution.
Article 9 Related hospitals
Related hospitals shall be designated by the General Manager to compensate for a shortage of a specific training at the core hospital and the branch hospitals or a shortage of a local healthcare system on his/her own responsibility if he/she considers that a certain training cannot be conducted sufficiently at the core hospital and the branch hospitals.
2. Related hospitals shall compensate for a shortage of a local healthcare system and certain areas.
Article 10 Requirements for Certification of Training Physicians
The certification of physicians who meet the following requirements and are approved by the General Manager shall be discussed by the Postgraduate/Curriculum Committee and shall be determined by the Certification Committee.
(1) To have made a presentation at an academic meeting at least 5 times (co-presentation allowed) and to have published 2 or more peer-reviewed papers (co-authoring allowed).
(2) To have participated in 60 or more surgeries as a supervisor, operator, or assistant in the past 2 years.
(3) To have taught resident physicians for at least 2 years after obtaining a board qualification.
(4) To maintain the Board qualification and have attended the faculty development course (hereinafter referred to as “FD course”) and a medical safety seminar within a given period.
2. The certification of a training physician shall be renewed every 5 years after fulfillment of the requirements specified in Article 10-1-(2) and (4) is reconfirmed.
Supplementary Provisions
1. An approval by the administrative board must be obtained if any change is made to the internal regulations.
2. Paragraph 2-2 and 2-3 of Article 2 “Eligibility requirements for the Board certification examination and certification criteria” shall be applied to the resident physicians whose training started in April, 2015 and the internal regulations at the time of commencement of each training for Board shall be applied to the resident physicians whose training started in 2014 or earlier and the resident physicians whose training started in 2010 or earlier.
Appendix (related to Article 2-2) Target for Case Experiences（PDF/94KB)
The Japan Neurosurgical Society, GIA (General Incorporated Association) Internal Regulations on the Lifelong Learning System for Board
Determined by the board of directors on May 15, 2004
Revised on October 2, 2007
Revised on April 3, 2011
Revised on March 1, 2012
Revised on October 8, 2014
Article 1 Committee
The Lifelong Learning Committee (hereinafter, referred to as “the Committee”) shall be established for smooth operation of the lifelong learning system for board.
2. The chairperson shall be appointed by the chairperson of the Board Certification Committee, and the members of the Committee shall be appointed by the chairperson of the Committee.
Article 2 Eligibility Criteria for Renewal of Board Qualification and Certification Criteria
Certification of renewal of board qualification shall be determined by the Certification Committee after reviewed by the Committee once a year.
2. The requirements for the renewal are as follows:
(1) To engage in the medical practice of neurosurgery;
(2) To participate in the annual meeting of the Japan Neurosurgical Society and the annual meeting of the Japanese Congress of Neurological Surgeons respectively, at least once during the five-year certification period;
(3) To attend a training program for medical ethics, medical safety, medical accidents, and medical jurisprudence certified by the Japan Neurosurgical Society at least once during the five-year certification period; and
(4) To acquire 30 or more credit points on an average per year and 150 or more credit points during the five-year certification period by participating in the academic societies or study groups eligible for lifelong learning credits certified by the Japan Neurosurgical Society specified separately.
3. If lifelong learning credits cannot be acquired by the means described in Article 2-2-(4), lifelong learning credits can be supplemented as follows:
(1) To self-report by presenting a paper at an academic meeting of neurosurgical societies and related societies other than the academic societies or study groups eligible for lifelong learning credits, as well as publishing a paper in an academic journal of neurosurgical societies and related societies; or
(2) To master a workbook of Self-Assessment in Neurological Surgery (SANS).
4. Acquisition of lifelong learning credits shall be exempted upon application if there is any reason considered appropriate by the Committee, such as studying abroad or sickness.
5. The renewal time may be postponed upon application if there is any reason considered appropriate by the Committee, such as maternity or paternity leave during the renewal period.
6. A newly certified board shall start acquiring lifelong learning credits on January 1 of the next year of certification.
Article 3 Application Procedures for Board Qualification Renewal
Physicians who want to obtain certification of renewal of the board qualification shall complete the application procedures by a specified date, undergo screening, and pay the given fees by the due date.
Article 4 Requirements for Certification of Academic Societies/Study Groups Eligible for Lifelong Learning Credits
Certification of academic societies/study groups eligible for lifelong learning credits shall be determined by the Certification Committee after reviewed by the Committee upon application once a year.
2. Revocation of certification or revision of lifelong learning credit points may occur depending on the report of activities in the academic societies/study groups eligible for lifelong learning credits.
Supplementary Provisions
1. Approval shall be obtained from the administrative board in the case of modification of these Internal Regulations.
2. Irrelevant of the provisions of Article 2 “Eligibility criteria for renewal of board qualification and certification criteria,” the initial renewal time for board certificated members certificated by 2010 shall be specified and informed to the relevant members by the Committee.
3. Regarding participation in the congress meeting of the Japan Neurosurgical Society described in Paragraph 2 (2) of Article 2 “Eligibility criteria for renewal of board qualification and certification criteria” and Paragraph 2 (3), the certification can be provisionally provided under the condition that a physician will participate in such a meeting by the date specified by the Committee.
4. Exemption of the obligation of credit acquirement for honorary members, special members, guest members, and physicians aged 65 years or older stipulated in the previous regulations shall be revoked.
