The role of the facilitator and communication tools for real-time two-way communication at an academic congress / 医学教育

<p>　We report on our experience at the highly interactive special session "General Cardiology Hangout" at the 63rd Annual Scientific Session of the Japanese College of Cardiology, in which the e-portfolio system of Tokyo Medical University and a personal response system (PRS) were used to collect real-time free comments and feedback from the audience.</p><p></p><p>　In order to effectively manage an interactive session at an academic meeting by collecting feedback from the audience through a PRS and free comments, it is necessary to train facilitators who have the ability to organically extract and integrate the opinions and feedback from the audience in a relevant matter, and to develop tools that are both more user-friendly and secure.</p>

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 Fundamental Approach to Radically Improve English Education in Japanese Medical Schools / 医学教育

Conclusions1)The present situation of teaching English for medical purposes (EMP) in Japanese medical schools is chaotic.2)We need a standardized EMP curriculum and standardized national and international EMP goals.3) Based on Ministry of Education funding, a free Internet platform for EMP educational materials has been established and could be used to develop a national standardized EMP program.