A Proposal for Educational Curriculum on Conflicts of Interest from Undergraduate through Postgraduate and Continuing Health Professions Education / 医学教育

To ensure public trust in health professions, it is imperative for health professionals to understand the concept of conflict of interest (COI) in health professions education and manage it appropriately. However, there are not enough formal curricula on COI in health professions education in Japan. We propose an educational curriculum on COI in health professions education which focuses on relationship between physicians and for-profit corporations. We hope that this proposed curriculum stimulates educational activities on the ground while taking context into account. We also hope the proposed curriculum leads to the formal incorporation of COI in health professions education and educational policies nationwide.

Graduate Education Programs in Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health: Implications for Program Development in Japan / 医学教育

The goals of this article are to provide an overview of the master's degree programs offered by the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and to examine the program's implications for the development of educational programs for health-services administration in Japan. Three program features were identified: 1) a highly interdisciplinary approach, 2) a comprehensive curriculum, and 3) a community-based partnership. The large number of medical and academic institutions in Boston, where the school is located, provides significant advantages to the programs in terms of faculty recruitment and program development. However, future improvements are anticipated in determining the definition and scope of the programs and in assessing the potential differences between practice settings and academic training programs.

Advocacy by Students in Medical Education / 医学教育

A special Students' Committee on Medical Education was established by the Student Union of Nippon Medical School. The members of this committee are all volunteers and have carried out several plans to improve the educational environment at our school. In 1999, the Students' Committee on Medical Education proposed holding joint meetings with the Education Committee of Nippon Medical School. The meeting was to allow communication between students and teachers for improving the curriculum. The volunteer faculty members of the Education Committee and students have held joint meetings seven times from November 1999 through February 2001. Discussions between students and teachers have changed ideas on both sides and have led to improvements in some educational programs, such as clinical internship during the summer vacation.