Introduction of basic medicine examination in Korean Medical License Examination to improve physician's science competency

Physicians play a central role in the fields of medical service, research, and industry, so it is imperative to produce well-qualified doctors. Medicine is composed of science and arts, both necessary for its practice, and thus, the education outcomes in basic medical education in a medical school include basic biomedical sciences, social sciences and clinical sciences. Adequate science competencies create a deeper and better understanding of scientific knowledge, concepts, and methods fundamental to clinical science, and contribute to the scientific, technological, and clinical developments. The science competencies are primarily obtained by studying basic medicine in basic medical education, which has been criticized for failing to do so sufficiently in Korea. The failure is attributed to insufficient education time, teachers, and budgets, but the most critical factor is the lack of awareness regarding the importance of the science competencies of the physicians. Such ignorance also affects the Korean Medical Licensing Examination (KMLE). The KMLE tests competency in clinical sciences, preventive medicine, and medical laws, but not in basic biomedical sciences, which might result in insufficient science competency of the physicians and a decrease in the overall quality of the medical health service. Tests must be urgently introduced in KMLE on the competencies of basic biomedical sciences to improve the science competency of the physicians. The representative organizations of the medical society should take vigorous actions for the introduction of the basic medicine examination in KMLE.

Advanced Objective Structured Clinical Examination Trial at Hyogo College of Medicine / 医学教育

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is expected to be used for the Japanese medical license exami-nation (Advanced OSCE). An Advanced OSCE trial was conducted at Hyogo College of Medicine. We examined 96 stu-dents in 11 areas in 1 day with 58 examiners, 5 simulated patients, 70 student volunteers, and 34 clerks. According to thequestionnaire filled out by the students and examiners, this trial was moderately or rather difficult. This trial suggeststhat the Advanced OSCE can be used for the license examination, although some aspects should be improved.

Success Rate on the National Medical License Examination and Matriculation Rate of Medical Colleges / 医学教育

The success rate on the national medical license examination was calculated as the number of successful new graduates divided by the number of students at matriculation. Statistical analysis revealed that private medical colleges could be divided into two different groups: a large group A and a small group B. Furthermore, group A and national medical colleges could be regarded as one group. The conclusions are as follows. 1. The success rate of group A is almost equal to that of national medical colleges. 2. In the two groups, no significant correlation was observed between the success rate and the matriculation rate. 3. The success rate is a reliable index of the teaching efficiency of medical colleges.