[Feature: 30 Years of SFC] SFC from the Perspective of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care

2020/10/06

Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), which was established in 1990, has reached its 30th anniversary. The Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care was established at SFC in 2001 and is now entering its 20th year. As a faculty that has walked alongside SFC, I would like to look back on its history and consider its future prospects.

Nursing education at Keio began in 1918 when the first Dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato, argued that the enhancement of nursing was essential for the development of medical care. Since the opening of the Department of Medicine Nurse Training Center, nursing education has continued steadily in Shinanomachi, where the University Hospital is located, while changing its form from a vocational school to a junior college. There were high expectations for the establishment of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care at SFC. For the opening of the ninth faculty of the Juku, a university-wide working group was formed to attempt new education in both theoretical and practical aspects, in addition to the nursing education provided up to that point. In particular, as the advancement of information technology brought about an era of creating and transmitting new knowledge, the curriculum was designed to include education for acquiring the ability to constantly incorporate and disseminate new information.

These circumstances are described in "Invitation to 'Nursing and Medical Care'," published at the time of the faculty's founding, by then President Yasuhiko Torii and Vice-President Taizo Yakushiji.

SFC is a campus that aims for a new "reorganization of knowledge" as a base for leading problem-finding and problem-solving education faced by Japan and the world in the 21st century. SFC, which had passed its 10th anniversary, was chosen as an environment where the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care—which aims to develop human resources who can identify and solve problems from a broad perspective centered on health without being restricted by the frameworks of health, medicine, and welfare—could make the most of learning at a comprehensive university.

Furthermore, at the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care established at SFC, new initiatives were started not only in education but also in research. I would like to look back on some memorable activities.

First is the e-Care Project (led by former Dean Kikuko Ota). Simultaneously with the opening of the faculty, a research initiative across the entire campus was started as a policy of the executive board at the time. This was an interdisciplinary inquiry aiming to support the health of all people and improve Quality of Life (QOL) by making full use of IT technology. In the "e! Project," a project directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a demonstration experiment in the field of long-term care and welfare was conducted in Fujisawa City. It empirically showed that through the introduction of IT, relationships of watching over and being watched over by the elderly could be created, and that diseases could be prevented and healthy lives maintained by obtaining timely and appropriate information under a ubiquitous environment. The "Fusion Research on the Formation and Application of e-Care Type Social Systems" under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Program for Promoting the Advancement of Academic Research at Private Universities was an attempt to create a society that balances independence and coexistence in a declining birthrate and aging society by possessing comprehensive care capabilities through the use of information technology. It was found to lead to the formation of new communication, improvement of care capabilities, and the creation of relationships and social systems.

Next is the "Support for Female Researchers Fostering Social Capital" funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology. This was proposed by Associate Professor Shoko Miyagawa, and the "Work-Life Balance Research Center" was established as a university-wide project. Activities such as networking for female researchers and career support were developed according to the needs of each campus. Of particular note was the establishment of "Kogamo no Su" (Little Duck's Nest) within SFC, which provides temporary childcare for children from age one to pre-school. This was a groundbreaking initiative where student childcare supporters who completed a training course developed by the center took on the role of childcare. This project can be said to have laid the foundation for the Juku's Gender Equality Office and the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

All of these activities were accomplished under an open research environment with flexible ideas and mobility at SFC. One of the attractions is the ability to explore issues related to people's health through connections with local residents and Fujisawa City.

Students who were greatly stimulated through exposure to the diverse education at SFC and interaction with enthusiastic and unique faculty and students are now active in various fields of society. As one example, Takashi Kawazoe, a member of the first graduating class who started the Nursing and Medical Policy Student Association during his student days, gained clinical experience as a nurse and went on to graduate school. Based on his experience, he believed that self-health checks are useful for maintaining and promoting health, and he started a business in 2007 to realize a system that anyone can easily use. These activities have been highly evaluated, and along with numerous awards, he was introduced as a young samurai creating "Fast Healthcare" in "100 People Creating the Next Generation (Nikkei Business 2011)."

Graduates who studied under the SFC spirit are gradually taking on roles in faculty education. For the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, which aims to develop human resources who can apply nursing science broadly to society, open up their own paths, and play leading roles, I am confident that by learning within problem-finding and problem-solving education at SFC and challenging the reorganization of knowledge, they can contribute to protecting people's health and improving QOL even in the midst of an unprecedented declining birthrate and aging society and unprecedented disasters accompanying global environmental changes.