Medical Education Center
- Develop researchers
- Enhance clinical training
- Integrate pregraduate and postgraduate education
- Promote acquisition of an international view
- Continue to improve education
–>The Medical Education Center is a medical education think tank to develop physicians and researchers who will lead the world.
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1.Develop researchers
A characteristic of medical education at Osaka University is long-established researcher development. Osaka University was the first to introduce a program to assign students to basic medical science courses enabling them to concentrate on basic medical research for a fixed period of time. Under the new curriculum introduced in 2015, students are assigned to laboratories in the fifth year where they can also conduct clinical research.
In 2009, the Medical Scientist Training Program was started to develop basic medical researchers, and 47 students completed the program by 2019. Admission of those who completed the program to graduate school of basic medical sciences was gradually accepted, and 3 students advanced to graduate school of basic medical sciences in 2020.
2.Enhance clinical training
Another characteristic of medical education at Osaka University is comprehensive clinical training. Clinical training, which is based on participation in clinical practice, is provided for 44 weeks; through a combination of clinical training at the Osaka University Hospital and other core hospitals in the greater Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area, students can learn advanced medicine and general clinical practice in a well-balanced manner. Also, students are provided with opportunities to experience regional medical care and overseas medical care if they wish to do so.
3.Integrate pregraduate and postgraduate education
In 2014, an educational system integrating pregraduate education and initial and specialized training was established through collaboration between the Medical Education Center and the Postgraduate Medical Training Center. The Osaka University Hospital, which encourages basic medical research in initial training, serves as a platform to develop basic medical researchers. We aim to develop students who will play a leadership role with advanced clinical capabilities (specialists) and research capabilities (doctors of philosophy in medicine); students advance to graduate school while receiving specialized training in parallel.
4. Promote acquisition of an international view
We employed full-time medical English teachers from 2016 and made medical English classes compulsory for students in the second to fourth years. Participatory small-group education is introduced, targeting for students to acquire English proficiency to make presentations and discuss at overseas academic conferences and examine and explain to patients in English.
About half of the students experience studying abroad. In 2020, 55 students in the sixth year are planned to be dispatched. Students are provided with opportunities to study in countries in North America and Europe, as well as in Asian countries according to students’ wishes. We also accept about 30 students from overseas every year.
5.Continue to improve education
In 2019, Institutional Research Department, Program Evaluation Committee, and Curriculum Committee were established. We analyze education based on data to help future decision-making and planning.
