Opinion: Survey of e-Portfolio Practice at Medical Schools in Japan / 医学教育

<p>Background: Electronic portfolios (ePFs) which can be accessed from personal computers and mobile devices are gaining in importance in medical education.</p><p>Methods: We sent out by post written invitations to participate in an online survey to the medical education units of all 80 medical schools in Japan.</p><p>Results: Of the 70 schools from which replies were received, 16 use paper-based portfolios, 14 use ePFs, 8 use both, and 32 do not use either. The most commonly used ePF systems are Mahara, manaba folio, and WebClass, and they are used in particular for clinical training. An increased burden on the faculty is considered a demerit of ePFs. Compared with paper-based portfolios, ePFs facilitate timely feedback and the better storage and sharing of data, but, on the other hand, they are demanding in terms of infrastructure and technical administration. Current ePF solutions are not considered optimized for medical education.</p><p>Discussion: There is a need for the development of a common ePF environment for use in medical education.</p>

A report on 8 years of activities of a student organization promoting advanced cardiac life support techniques at Keio University / 医学教育

1)The Keio ACLS Popularizing and Promoting Association (KAPPA) is an official student organization that promotes advanced life support techniques.<br>2)KAPPA has provided 29 advanced cardiac life support courses, including 20 official ICLS (immediate cardiac life support) courses of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, which have trained 314 ICLS providers and 61 ICLS instructors during the past 8 years.<br>3)Peer–led training among students to maintain the quality of the courses has contributed to the activities of KAPPA.

Oath–writing project for the white coat ceremony as part of professionalism education / 医学教育

1)The Keio University School of Medicine introduced a "white coat ceremony" in 2006 and the taking of an oath written by medical students in 2007 for fourth–year students as part of medical professionalism education just before the start of clinical clerkships.<br>2)Through activities in 2009, the oath–writing project was highly evaluated by students, and 84% of students felt that Keio University should continue the project.<br>3)A challenge for the future is finding new ways to encourage more students to participate in the project.