[Special Feature: 10th Anniversary of the Faculty of Pharmacy] Roundtable Discussion: The Past 10 Years and the Next 10 Years

The Faculty of Pharmacy and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences celebrate their 10th anniversary this year. In 2008, the Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy was established through a merger with Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy. This coincided perfectly with the extension of the pharmacist education period in 2006 and the start of the six-year pharmacy education system, and we have continued to walk through this new era of pharmacy education ever since.

I would like to start by reflecting on these past 10 years and asking what has changed as we transitioned from a single-subject college like Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy to a comprehensive university like Keio University.

First, Mr. Uehara, what are your thoughts on the establishment of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Keio?

We are now in an era where, rather than simply digging deep into a single academic field, we must integrate and collaborate across related fields to expand education and research. From that perspective, I believe the birth of the Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy 10 years ago in 2008 was perfectly timed for Keio University as a whole, as it allowed the Faculty of Pharmacy to join forces with other faculties, including the School of Medicine, the Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care.

Moving forward, we will be questioned on how much we can contribute to an aging society with a long life expectancy, including through industry-government-academia collaboration. I look forward to further development.

Mr. Suzuki, you were a professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at the time of the merger and were involved in joint research with various faculties. What were your expectations when the Faculty of Pharmacy joined Keio?

I recall that 10 years ago, then-President Yūichirō Anzai was considering various initiatives for the 150th anniversary of the founding, which led to the decision to merge with Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy. In particular, there was a demand from high school students coming from Keio's affiliated schools to conduct research in pharmacy, so I believe it was something desired within Keio as well.

As Mr. Uehara mentioned, it was very timely for them to join Keio 10 years ago. Thanks to the creation of this field, the research and education systems in areas close to human life—namely the School of Medicine, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, and the Faculty of Pharmacy—were strengthened, which was a very welcome development for Keio.

The Keio Faculty of Pharmacy started just as the six-year pharmacy education system was being implemented. Ms. Kihira, you often visited the Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus in connection with your work at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. How do you feel about these past 10 years of the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy?

Originally, Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy was characterized by its focus on both the academic side of pharmacy research and education, and the practical side of training pharmacists by establishing a University Community Pharmacy. This was a distinctive feature compared to other universities.

When the merger with Keio took place, there was some discussion about whether it was appropriate for Keio to have a University Community Pharmacy in addition to its hospital. However, by having a Faculty of Pharmacy with a University Community Pharmacy join a comprehensive university with research and education programs in medical sciences and science and technology, I believe the foundation of the Faculty of Pharmacy has expanded as a result.

Over the past 10 years, I believe you have carried out activities that leverage those characteristics in the fields of pharmacy education and pharmacist training.

Perhaps the fact that the pharmacy on the Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus and the hospital on the Shinanomachi Campus are far apart was a good thing for the survival of the University Community Pharmacy (laughs).

We are the only ones who operate a University Community Pharmacy where patients actually visit on the grounds of the Faculty of Pharmacy campus. Since the campus is small, it is close to the gate, making it easy for patients to bring their prescriptions.

At the University Community Pharmacy, you don't just accept prescriptions; you also have OTC (over-the-counter) drugs on the shelves, don't you?

Ms. Sato is a graduate of Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy and serves as a director of the alumni association (KP-kai), and we also ask her to give lectures at the Faculty of Pharmacy. How do you feel the Faculty of Pharmacy has changed over these 10 years?

To be honest, when I first heard about the merger with Keio, it would be a lie to say I didn't feel a bit sad that the name of the university I graduated from would disappear. However, after 10 years, I feel that by joining Keio University, which has a long history and various faculties, the scope has expanded significantly both academically and internationally.

Mr. Uehara mentioned the collaborative system of academic fields, and furthermore, Keio University has a broad international perspective, so I think these have been integrated well.

When I was a student, there were almost no pharmacy students who studied abroad, but now there are many, and students also visit from overseas. I feel that this merger has expanded the scope and is starting to produce students who can lead pharmacy research in Japan and the world.

Regarding studying abroad, we want to open the doors even wider. Keio has a very good support system, and the current Top Global University Project is also providing a boost.

There are many other study abroad programs at Keio, so we want to increase the number of study abroad destinations in specialized fields. For this reason, the Faculty of Pharmacy has adopted a four-term system, and we are increasing opportunities for short-term study abroad by eliminating required subjects and practical training during the second term.

Ten years have passed since we transitioned from a single-subject college, Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy, to the Faculty of Pharmacy of Keio, a comprehensive university. Therefore, we believe we must put more effort into the role of the Faculty of Pharmacy within the Juku and into industry-academia collaboration.

In particular, we have joint education for the three medical-related faculties with the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. Early education is held at Hiyoshi, mid-term education at Shonan Fujisawa, and late-term education at Shiba-Kyoritsu and Shinanomachi. This is a great opportunity to promote team-based medicine in clinical settings. A joint education space has also been created in the new hospital building (Building 1) at Keio Hospital, and we are using it for this year's practical training for pharmacists.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the role of the Faculty of Pharmacy as part of a comprehensive university, including expectations for industry-academia collaboration.

Regarding industry-academia collaboration, we currently have the Uehara Memorial Foundation for Life Science. This was established in 1985. Previously, the first division provided grants for Oriental medicine, pharmacy, physical fitness medicine, and general nutrition; the second division for basic medicine; and the third division for clinical medicine.

However, because engineering technologies such as databases and engineering have advanced so much, research solely within specialized medical fields no longer leads to medical progress. Therefore, starting this year, we have established a fourth division to include joint research with other divisions as eligible for support.

For example, I believe that great progress can be achieved through the coordination of industrial technologies such as digitalization and data analysis with research in medical sciences and pharmacy, and it is necessary to create a collaborative system for that purpose.

Certainly, research will change in the future by utilizing things like big data, not just pharmacy and medical sciences. Everyone is encouraged by the grants from the Uehara Memorial Foundation for Life Science, so we look forward to your continued support.

Mr. Suzuki, as an expert in industry-academia collaboration, what are your thoughts?

I was in the Department of Applied Chemistry of the Faculty of Science and Technology for a long time. About two years ago, I joined a private company called JSR Corporation, and I am currently working at JKiC, an industry-academia collaboration research center within the School of Medicine. JSR Corporation was originally a company that excelled in polymer chemistry and started with the manufacture of rubber materials, but it is now actively expanding its business with life sciences as one of its three main businesses.

While I am cooperating with the industry-academia collaboration system within the School of Medicine, it is closely related to interdisciplinary fusion within the university. Digital science, which is the information field dealing with numerical values; the field of science and technology, which is good at handling "things" including molecules; and the fields of pharmacy and medical sciences, which master the life mechanisms of humans and think about how to treat people and maintain health well. Until now, there has been little movement of people and information between these fields, and I believe that collaboration between medicine, engineering, and pharmacy is still insufficient even within Keio.

Genomic medicine has now become commonplace, and genetic diagnosis has begun at Keio Hospital. We have entered an era where we start with genomic analysis for cancer and other diseases. Furthermore, in advanced research, we want to look beyond the genome to the metagenome, proteome, and metabolome, covering everything from macromolecules to small molecules. By doing so, we can understand what is happening in the human body and what the problems are.

Therefore, whether in the School of Medicine or the Faculty of Pharmacy, handling data has become a matter of course. This is where the Faculty of Science and Technology, which is good at handling data, and the Faculty of Pharmacy, which is good at handling drugs, come in. Regarding future drug discovery, the development of immunity and protein-based pharmaceuticals is currently in vogue, but research on nucleic acid drugs and the like beyond that is also becoming active. In such areas, it is important how to handle a large amount of medical information and incorporate it into research and education.

Since each faculty, including the Faculty of Pharmacy, has its own areas of expertise, I believe that by fusing them within the university, we can provide excellent education and research that adapts to the society of the future.

In the Faculty of Pharmacy, there has traditionally been a lot of basic research in life sciences, so I think there were aspects where the connection to the output industry was weak. We need to broaden our horizons to create innovation in new fields, including education, in cooperation with the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Science and Technology.

While academic fields themselves are increasingly merging, people in the pharmaceutical field tend to view the field of pharmacy narrowly, and there is an image of them being confined within it.

Currently, in pharmacy, it is naturally necessary to advance research using knowledge from other fields such as information, medical sciences, and engineering, and conversely, I think it is also necessary to have pharmacy knowledge used in other fields.

Furthermore, when considering the role of training pharmacists, for example, the PMD Act (Act on Securing Quality, Efficacy and Safety of Products Including Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices) regulates not only pharmaceuticals but also medical devices, regenerative medicine products, quasi-drugs, and cosmetics, and naturally, there is a role for pharmacists in each of these. In other words, pharmaceuticals are not the only field where knowledge of pharmacy is required, so I believe pharmacists can still play an active role in various fields.

It is certainly expanding.

In addition, pharmacists have traditionally managed pharmacies themselves, which required knowledge of management such as inventory control and accounting. As the operation of pharmacies becomes increasingly complex, knowledge of management and economics is becoming more and more important.

Also, the form of pharmacies is shifting from individual stores to chains, and the number of pharmacists employed by companies is increasing. In this context, I think we need to re-examine what is required of a pharmacist. Professional knowledge of pharmacy is a given, but professional awareness, ethics, and a sense of mission as a pharmacist are also questioned. Acting based on instructions from a company could potentially lead to disciplinary action as a pharmacist.

In order for pharmacists to be able to act based on their own professional ethics, similar to other licensed professionals like doctors and lawyers, I believe they must acquire knowledge of law and sociology in addition to specialized knowledge of pharmacy, economics, and management.

Thinking about it that way, I'm sure there is much more that can be done in a Faculty of Pharmacy within a comprehensive university than in a single-subject college.

That's very true. Since we are close to Mita, students can also study economics and law. Although the numbers are small, we have established courses where students can obtain two degrees—a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences—in collaboration with the Graduate School of Business Administration (KBS). We definitely want to strengthen this in the future.

Keio originally has professors active in fields that are not very common at other universities, such as health economics, doesn't it?

Exactly. Right after the merger, I heard a talk on health economics at a lecture in Mita, and I thought it was wonderful to be able to hear such stories within the same university. Within the faculty, we have Professor Hiroshi Nakamura from KBS give lectures in subjects like Bio-industry Theory, but we want to put even more effort into this.

Ms. Sato, what are your thoughts on the role of the Faculty of Pharmacy within a comprehensive university?

I think the best thing about a comprehensive university is that during your student days, you can spend time exchanging opinions in club activities and the like with people who have perspectives from law, chemistry, or medical sciences on a daily basis.

As Ms. Kihira mentioned, people who aspire to study pharmacy tend to become a group that thinks about the same things in a narrow world.

However, people who major in other disciplines might look at even a single disease from a different perspective. I think there are many opportunities in a comprehensive university to broaden one's horizons by talking to such people daily.

Being able to interact daily with people who have various perspectives during one's student years, when one's view of humanity is being formed, would be beneficial for raising pharmacists with a broad perspective in the future.

In terms of research, the methods for developing pharmaceuticals are gradually changing, with the creation of pharmaceuticals through computer graphics and so on, and the role of academia also seems to be changing quite a bit.

In the past, each company had its own Research Centers and Institutes and created pharmaceuticals there, but now it seems that more and more, once academia creates something wonderful, companies merge with them halfway through to work together toward commercialization.

Also, regarding the point about management perspectives, I think there are cases where pure researchers lose out in terms of patents. There are stories where someone did great research but only thought about presenting it as a research result, and when they thought about commercializing it, they found that someone they didn't know had suddenly applied for a patent from the side. From that perspective as well, a university with people of various expertise would be advantageous for drug discovery and creation.

Furthermore, many students in the Faculty of Pharmacy inevitably cannot "see" the patients. In fact, even those working in pharmacies as pharmacists feel a bit more distant from patients compared to other medical professions like doctors and nurses.

Since students of the Faculty of Pharmacy can now receive education close to patients at the Shinanomachi Campus, it will be easier for them to imagine the patients, which I think will be very beneficial for their future.

Yes. Starting this year, students in the six-year program who will become pharmacists can now officially have their graduation theses supervised by professors from the School of Medicine if they wish. We have previously sent students to the School of Medicine through individual joint research, but the relationship is deepening further.

The next theme is the pharmacy education that Keio University aims for. Over the past 10 years, we have worked to align ourselves well within the Keio organization, coupled with the reform of the six-year system. I would like to hear your thoughts, including expectations, on human resource development for the Faculty of Pharmacy in the future within the education Keio aims for.

When thinking about corporate management strategy, I value the phrase "Chakugan Taikyoku, Chakushu Shokyoku" (Think big, act small). "Chakugan Taikyoku" means grasping the trends of the times—what is happening now in all areas of politics and economy, both domestically and internationally.

For the past 20 years or so, I have always been conscious of this when thinking about business plans in the medium to long term. I believe we should think about how to cultivate pharmacy education or the characteristics of Keio with such trends of the times in mind.

In my opinion, the major trend of the current era is led by a technological revolution, and I think micro-technology has advanced tremendously. Digitalization has progressed, calculation speeds have become faster and faster, and quantum computers are emerging. Communication has moved to fiber optics. As a result, everything has evolved, including information technology, transportation, logistics, medical sciences, physics, chemistry, and engineering.

In addition, globalization has progressed as investment money moves around the world, and the economic gap between nations has narrowed. I think we are in a situation where there are fewer untapped markets.

Because of these things, a new society has now emerged. I believe it is a society and market where the consumer is sovereign. Furthermore, an aging society with a long life expectancy has emerged, and in Japan, which is at the forefront of this, social security costs have become enormous. In this situation, what is called the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now required.

Until around 1955, the combined ratio of the primary and secondary industries in GDP was about two-thirds, and the tertiary industry was one-third. However, in recent years, the tertiary industry, which is the service industry, accounts for more than two-thirds. In this context, the impact on industry, government, and academia is that we must create new technologies and new markets where further development is expected through the fusion of technology and academic fields.

Furthermore, existing regulations emphasized safety. This is a wonderful thing, but in industrial competition, it can sometimes become a factor that hinders development. That's why, for example, self-driving cars are being tested in places like California where there are no regulations.

Looking back, the question for future pharmacy education is how to deal with the rapid increase in social security costs associated with an aging society. Or, how to respond to a society where the consumer has become sovereign. I believe we should develop human resources who can respond to such things.

Currently, where and in what proportions are students of the Faculty of Pharmacy finding employment?

Currently, about 40% of the 150 graduates of the six-year program become pharmacists in pharmacies or hospitals. In the Kyoritsu era, 60 to 70% became pharmacists, but more people are going into companies. And it's not limited to pharmaceutical companies; they also seem to be going to food and cosmetics companies. Also, recently, many graduates are going to clinical trial companies, like CROs (Contract Research Organizations).

In that sense, unlike other private pharmacy colleges, there may be fewer people at Keio who aim solely to be pharmacists.

I see. This is also a reflection on our part, but until now, we only conveyed information from the seller's side, such as manufacturers and retailers. Moreover, that information was all vertically divided into pharmacy, physiology, pathology, nutrition, and so on.

However, as the world changes, I believe the main work of pharmacists will shift from handling and researching drugs to consulting on health for the general public. Therefore, I think they must acquire all kinds of information, from nutrition to physiology, physical fitness medicine, sleep, stress, and so on. Since it is impossible to acquire all of that within just four or six years of undergraduate university education, lifelong learning will be necessary.

From now on, I believe it will be necessary to build a society centered on local pharmacists. I hope that pharmacists will contribute to town building, community building, and the aging society.

Thank you very much. You have given us some very significant advice.

To use a mountain climbing analogy, those are equivalent to the summit we aim for. Since you cannot climb to the top all at once, I believe it is important to set intermediate goals (Camp 1, Camp 2, etc.) from the current position (base camp) toward 10 years from now and start walking.

Since many students enter the Faculty of Pharmacy aiming to become pharmacists, I think it is very good that you are building an educational system by stacking up from the basics. Within that stack, I think it is important to provide education that looks a little ahead, such as genomic analysis and cell/tissue engineering, while thinking about the position of pharmacists in a society where robots, artificial intelligence, and automation are rapidly advancing.

I believe it will increasingly become a matter of "from drugs to people." Currently, immunity is in vogue worldwide, including in research and development, but regarding immunity, we must know not only the drugs but also the human side sufficiently. If the Faculty of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine create a strong collaborative system within Keio for education and research, it will lead to human resource development that meets social needs.

JKiC has also just begun, and research and development are currently centered on the School of Medicine, but eventually, I would like the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Science and Technology to be heavily committed. There, I believe it is important to look at people while including social structures such as a healthy aging society, not just drugs.

I believe the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy is also trying to develop many human resources who are strong in research, not just pharmacists. Toward that end, I hope you will provide education that helps students acquire proactiveness and broadens their horizons during their student days.

Exactly. Students in the Faculty of Pharmacy can be a bit quiet. At SFC and other places, instilling an entrepreneurial mindset is very popular, but there are few students who try to start a new company themselves. I think that by interacting with other campuses, such feelings might emerge.

National universities provide pharmacist education for a small number of people, but our image is that 150 people hold pharmacist licenses and they play active roles in companies, so I want to bring out that characteristic as well.

From this perspective, Ms. Kihira, is there anything you expect from the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy in the future?

Yes, there are many (laughs). First, in terms of the academic field of pharmaceutical sciences, since Keio also has a four-year program, we must also focus on research. There are two aspects to medicine: "creating" drugs (drug discovery) and manufacturing them. In drug discovery, the methods for finding drug seeds are shifting toward those using advanced technology, and I would like Keio to lead Japan in this area.

Regarding the other aspect, manufacturing, there is a shortage of personnel in Japan capable of producing biopharmaceuticals, which have recently become the global mainstream. To use a sake-brewing analogy, the situation with biopharmaceuticals today is like having the funds to build a brewery but having no master brewer (toji). I believe that unless Japan as a whole, not just Keio, trains personnel involved in the manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, we will not be able to keep up with current global trends.

As for pharmacists, whether in hospitals or pharmacies, I believe it is necessary—considering Keio University's standing—to fulfill the role of cultivating human resources who lead their respective fields rather than just being individual pharmacists.

For example, since the introduction of the six-year system, the largest number of graduates from six-year programs who have entered the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare with a pharmacist license has come from Keio. Currently, national universities such as the University of Tokyo have small quotas for their six-year programs, so the population of new graduates with pharmacist licenses is not increasing.

Furthermore, there are many professors from Keio who serve on councils and committees for the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

Another point regarding Japanese pharmaceutical departments as a whole: when considering the training of faculty members for 20 or 30 years from now, the process of conducting research somewhere, obtaining a doctorate, and entering the teaching profession is naturally necessary. However, at the very least, we cannot rely solely on those currently moving on to graduate school after the six-year program.

Therefore, whether they go to a pharmacy, a hospital, or a company, the university must provide an environment where pharmacists can engage in academic activities and create a system where human resources can move back and forth between the university and the field. Otherwise, I am concerned that a time will come when it will be difficult even to maintain the Faculty of Pharmacy. I would very much like Keio to take the lead in such areas as well.

Happily, this year there has been a significant increase in students coming to the Doctoral Programs (four years) after completing the six-year program. More students want to become faculty members in the future or become leaders among pharmacists.

As you mentioned, what I consider the biggest problem with the six-year system is that almost none of the faculty members in the Faculty of Pharmacy had clinical experience. I believe the six-year system will not reach its true final form until we produce faculty members who have both the research capabilities of a university professor and clinical experience similar to a professor in the School of Medicine.

Therefore, we must train many individuals who are both pharmacists and capable of research. It is a given that students who enter Keio will pass the national examination, but we want them to go further into the Doctoral Programs. Alternatively, I believe we cannot produce leaders unless we train students who come to graduate school to obtain a doctoral degree after gaining professional experience in society.

If I were to point out a reflection on the introduction of the six-year system, I think it would be that creating the structure of the six-year system came first, and what to teach there was put on the back burner. Now that ten years have passed, as Professor Kanazawa said, I think it is time to reconsider how six-year education should be conducted.

Earlier, there was talk about pharmaceutical students being quiet, but for example, in the activities of the Asia-Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium hosted this summer, I saw Keio students taking a central role and being very active. So, I am sure they are not all quiet students.

Indeed. For example, students from the Faculty of Pharmacy have emerged who launched "Your School," a learning support project for hospitalized children, which won the KBC Award at the Keio Business Contest last year. I have high expectations for them in the future.

Until now, the Faculty of Pharmacy has not provided any support for such students, so it will be necessary to make it easier for them to carry out their activities. I want to support students who are working ambitiously.

Regarding human resource development, what are your thoughts, Mr. Sato?

I believe that high-level students enter the university and spend their student lives further cultivating knowledge and experience, but one thing I feel is that the graduates of Keio's School of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy whom I know have wonderful personalities.

Without knowing that we would merge in the future, I was involved with the rowing club of the Keio School of Medicine during the Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy era. The people from that time, some of whom are now professors at Shinanomachi and others who are professors at other universities, all have broad perspectives and good personalities. Many have become doctors and medical professionals who are well-liked by their patients.

Also, since 1999, I have been working as a consultant for hospital infection control at the Tokyo Medical Center, and the doctor who supervised me then was also a graduate of Keio. That doctor taught me how to interact with patients and other medical professionals. I think many of them have good personalities and are broad-minded, or rather, are liked by patients.

In this society facing an aging population, in order to function well as a pharmacist, no matter how wonderful the content of a consultation is, if you cannot enter the other person's heart, they will not be inclined to listen.

I believe that communication skills are what is needed to utilize the wonderful personalities and likability that everyone who studied at this place of learning shares, and to use those abilities 120% as pharmacists who can truly exchange opinions with patients and other medical professionals.

If they polish those skills, I believe they will be able to play an even more active role as wonderful members of society in hospitals, companies, and other places.

Communication is an area we are also focusing on in the six-year education. While there are difficult aspects, I would definitely like to incorporate and strengthen even small new elements.

Now, what about the goals for the next ten years and expectations for the Faculty of Pharmacy?

I believe that pharmacists will become key figures in the future aging society. Doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and clinical laboratory technicians only meet patients once they come to the hospital, but healthy people also visit local pharmacies.

In that context, I would like to ask Ms. Kihira as well, but I want some of the existing laws to be amended so that pharmacists can also perform blood collection and other tasks. If pharmacists can easily perform blood tests at local pharmacies, it will enable early detection and treatment of diseases and contribute to extending the healthy life expectancy of patients. Especially in sparsely populated areas, it is difficult to go to a hospital for a checkup, so it would be good if local pharmacies could provide some support.

If there are concerns, I think a certification system could be created. Pharmacists can contribute by utilizing their specialized knowledge, and patients who are recommended for detailed examinations can visit a clinic and receive treatment at a mild stage. Medical expenses would also be used efficiently, contributing to insurance finances.

I think the problem now is that for the general public, who are the center of society, the methods for recommending self-medication for mild symptoms and early detection and treatment for severe symptoms are insufficient.

Systemically, it is quite difficult for pharmacists to collect blood, but we have incorporated physical assessment into the six-year education. Currently, for example, at our University Community Pharmacy, we have created a system where patients can collect their own blood and send it for testing immediately. We are also gradually making attempts such as borrowing space in the community, not just inside the pharmacy. We have also started allowing people to measure their own blood pressure when they come to our pharmacy.

I myself have worked in a hospital research institute and have experience as a pharmacist, but for example, even if an injured patient enters a pharmacy bleeding, a pharmacist cannot stop the bleeding. Pharmacists are prohibited from treating patients.

Regarding what must not be done, it is a matter of not performing so-called medical acts. However, I believe there are things that are not problematic when it comes to consumers treating themselves.

I believe the role of the pharmacist is to support the promotion of self-care and self-medication, where consumers care for themselves to maintain their health.

When receiving a consultation from a consumer, if it is something that only a doctor can handle, it is important to tell them to "go to the hospital immediately." There are various ways to do this, such as a pharmacist teaching them to "stop the bleeding like this yourself before going to the hospital." I think this corresponds to what is called triage at the pharmacy.

Rather than a pharmacist acting as a substitute for a doctor, I believe the pharmacist's involvement in self-medication should be teaching or assisting what the patient does themselves.

I see, that's true. Well then, Mr. Suzuki, I would like you to talk about your expectations for the Faculty of Pharmacy over the next ten years.

I entered a company after spending 35 years at a university. Both industry and academia have their strengths and weaknesses, but companies have more freedom in terms of people, money, and space. Therefore, if there is something you want to do, as long as the top management decides, you can do it more freely than at a university.

On the other hand, companies must make money, so they inevitably stick to short-term themes and early industrialization exits. Universities are restricted in terms of people, money, and space, which narrows their freedom, but they have an environment where they can conduct medium- to long-term research and development.

Therefore, industry-academia collaborative research and development is important. Companies have high expectations for Keio to firmly conduct research and development that leads Japan and the world. I believe Keio will generate many seeds for future industrialization.

Furthermore, in Keio's case, since it also has a hospital, an advantage is being able to understand what is currently needed in terms of medical exit needs. In that sense, JKiC is in a very good position. At Shinanomachi, you can learn about seeds at the School of Medicine and also learn about needs at the hospital. I think the Faculty of Pharmacy also needs to consider creating an industry-academia collaborative research system for the next 10 or 20 years.

From now on, as Mr. Uehara said, I believe an important role of pharmaceutical science will be to look at people, including healthy individuals and the elderly, not just medicine. I want to see things that can firmly support how to create a healthy and long-lived society included in pharmaceutical education.

Ms. Kihira, what about the next ten years?

I often hear that there is a lot to teach in pharmaceutical education. A Model Core Curriculum for Pharmaceutical Education was formulated to coincide with the start of the six-year system, and since 2015, pharmaceutical education has been conducted according to the revised core curriculum.

I think periodic reviews will continue to be conducted, but if pharmaceutical education is closed off at the point of teaching according to textbooks and remembering what was taught to face the national examination, there will be no expansion beyond that. I think it is important to consider what is acquired from what was learned and how one becomes able to respond to various changes.

Discussions on reviewing the pharmacy system are currently underway at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, but in an era where the nature of pharmacists and pharmacies themselves are about to change, even if we teach that "this is what pharmaceutical science is like now, and this is what pharmacists are like now," there will be many things that will not be useful ten years from now.

Therefore, I believe that what should be done as pharmaceutical education is not just teaching superficially, but what is important is what can be acquired from that as a person's core and utilized in the future. I believe that firmly instilling the core parts that must be acquired not only as a pharmacist but as someone who received an education at a university, or specifically at Keio, is a part that must not be forgotten.

I think you are exactly right. It's not the core of the core curriculum, but the true core of a pharmacist, isn't it?

Perhaps as a human being, rather than as a pharmacist.

That's true. It seems that students in the School of Medicine don't necessarily attend classes as seriously as students in the Faculty of Pharmacy (laughs). I took a fourth-year medical student to the United States recently, and since he hadn't attended classes at all, when he heard things in the U.S., he said it was the first time he'd heard them. But he must have been taught that in the School of Medicine.

However, I realized after spending a week in the U.S. with him that he is a very talented student. As Mr. Sato said earlier, it may be that people in the Keio School of Medicine have a large capacity. In comparison, pharmaceutical students are serious, and if there is a quota, they do everything thoroughly and end up becoming overwhelmed. In reality, there should be other things, things that can only be taught because it is Keio.

In the old image of university education, I feel that professors would only say "read and remember" what is written in the textbook, and in lectures, they wouldn't talk about the textbook but would have deeper, broader discussions.

Currently, many pharmaceutical departments face challenges with student levels, so there is an aspect where they won't develop unless they are taught thoroughly. However, if they are students who come to Keio, I believe they can aim further, so I have high expectations.

As you said, I think it is also time to review our way of teaching. With a core curriculum, we inevitably try to create pharmacists who are like cookie-cutters, but I want to think about creating a Faculty of Pharmacy that is uniquely Keio. Mr. Sato, what do you think?

I believe that universities and graduate schools are places for character building. Of course, there is a curriculum and you learn, but if that were all, you could just read a textbook. I think the ability to have a wonderful environment is what will come to life later when that person becomes a member of society and part of the generation that leads society.

It is both a good and bad point of Japanese people, but if there are regulations or the like, they become fixed ideas and cannot be changed. However, regulations are made by humans after all, so even if they were reasonable when they were made, various things change due to changes in society.

If there is a need to change, I believe they should be changed more and more based on a proper common understanding of how it is best to change them.

I also give lectures at Keio, and I tell students, "Let's become gatekeepers and gate openers for public health." Creating and following certain regulations and rules is necessary to maintain social order, but rather than saying we can only do this much because of this rule, I think it is also important to change what exists now based on the knowledge and experience we have cultivated.

Since we are Japanese, we primarily think about Japan, but I believe Keio is a place where there are many students who can become leaders not only in Japan but in Asia and the world, without being trapped by the walls of a country. I believe what is required is how to take flight into society and become global leaders based on the various knowledge and experiences gained at this place of learning.

I heard that there are already global projects and the like, but there are things that can only be experienced because you came to Keio, so I want students to gain as many experiences as possible during their student days. I believe Keio students are students who have the ability to gain new ideas and put them into action by interacting with people from other academic fields and other countries. I think it would be wonderful if they could become leaders for providing better new drugs and a better public health environment.

Thank you very much. The responsibility is gradually becoming heavier (laughs).

In the end, it's about what kind of human resources can be created. Even looking within a company, there are people who grow and people who don't, even in the same department. It's a matter of the individual's antenna and sensitivity—whether they can spread their antenna high and wide, and further deep and wide. I think this is the same for pharmacists and people in all kinds of jobs.

I think it is necessary to have them interact with other faculties as much as possible, or gain various experiences such as working part-time at a local hamburger shop to interact with customers, not just clinical practice in the fourth or fifth year, and have them experience things that lead to realizations like "Why is this?" In short, not just classroom learning, but having them experience things.

You are exactly right. A first-year male student in the Doctoral Programs who made a pledge at the 10th-anniversary ceremony told me that he decided to go on to the Doctoral Programs after seeing local medical care during training in Laos.

Originally, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care started the Laos training, and students from the School of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy are going there together. It is completely different from Japan where everything is available, and there is much to learn in a place where there is nothing. He seemed to think that his current knowledge was not enough to do something about this, so he had to go to the Doctoral Programs.

Since high-ability students enter Keio, I want to actively incorporate educational systems that develop those students—including areas that have not been practiced much in pharmaceutical science so far—by referring to other faculties, and engage in activities with a globally expanded perspective.

As the Faculty of Pharmacy, I would like to be able to talk on the next occasion about how we have come this far with what everyone has told us today.

Thank you very much for today.

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.