Japanese National Physician Graduate Medical Education Program

Last Updated: April 22, 2024

Fellowship Program at  USNHO 

United States Naval Hospital Okinawa (USNHO) is the largest U.S. Naval Hospital outside the United States where 126 physicians and 239 nurses provide a broad range of medical services. The hospital consists of 82 active beds (expandable to 129 beds), 7 operating rooms, an emergency department including 2 trauma beds, 2 caesarean-section rooms in labor and delivery, 14 labor and delivery rooms (now called Mother and Infant Care Center) averaging 759 deliveries per year, 8 ICU beds, and14 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit beds. Our specialty and primary care clinics located at the main hospital, 7 branch medical clinics, family medicine clinics, and 4 annexes throughout Okinawa see more than 291,000 patients per year. USNHO also serves as the referral center for U.S. military personnel in the Western Pacific, including ships at sea.

A year post-graduate medical fellowship has been offered every year at United States Naval Hospital Okinawa since 1990. The fellowship program is styled after transitional or family practice internship programs in the United States. After a 2-week orientation, fellows complete twelve clinical rotations for two to four weeks. The rotations will include six core specialties (Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Neurology-Psychiatry) and selective specialties. There is also a elective month (up to one month) where fellows can choose to do an clinical elective outside of USNHO.

＜Eligibility＞
Applicants should be Japanese citizens who have graduated from medical schools and completed 2 years of junior residency.  People with SOFA status are not qualified for this position. Previous externship experience at USNHO is not required to apply for the fellowship program. Fluency in verbal and written English is required.

Fellowship Program 

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