Significance of the Case-study Method in Practical Bioethics Education / 医学教育

Clinical cases requiring bioethical thinking and decision-making have become more complex owing to advances in medical technology and changes in family relationships. In addition, members of medical staff are asked to acquire the ability to think in terms of bioethics. For training in such ability, the use of case studies is important and essential. For a medical ethics class we created 30 cases involving communication between patients and physicians, changes in family relationships, and advanced medical technology, such as genetic diagnosis and gene therapy. We asked all second-year medical students of the Osaka University Medical School to think about these 30 cases and answer questionnaires about bioethics. We believe the case-study method is effective for training students in the ability to think in terms of bioethics.

The Effect and Significance of Early Clinical Exposure of Medical Students From the Viewpoint of Communication and Medical Students' Research Into the Doctor-Patient Relationship / 医学教育

Many medical schools have recently introduced clinical exposure in the early years of training. During this period of early clinical exposure, medical students observe many aspects of a hospital and its staff. Because they do not yet have any special knowledge of medicine, medical students are able to understand problems in medicine from a patient's point of view. We sent questionnaires to students of several medical schools and investigated what students learned, especially about communication. We reported on voluntary research by some medical students at Osaka University. We believe that early clinical exposure gives medical students a chance to recognize and consider many aspects of medicine.