【Doctoral Programs】 Graduate School of Medicine Applied Medicine Program

This program is intended for graduates of the School of Medicine, 6-year dental schools, veterinary schools, and the Faculty of Pharmacy, or those who have completed a master's course.

The Applied Medicine Program aims to develop human resources capable of conducting excellent clinical research leading to advanced medical care and designing its protocols, as well as experts in cross-disciplinary clinical oncology corresponding to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Cancer Professional Program.

With the aim of fostering world-class medical and medical science researchers, students take lecture-style courses in basic and clinical medicine and medical-related fields, engage in research activities, and prepare a doctoral dissertation. The curriculum is organized so that students can acquire international and practical research execution and research proposal abilities. As a specific time schedule, students register for courses and begin their studies in April of their first year, while also starting their research in close consultation with their academic advisor. In July of the first year, in order to ensure that research proceeds with a long-term and reliable outlook, students must submit a four-year research plan and have it approved by the Graduate School of Medicine Committee. By the end of the second year, students generally earn all credits for core subjects and secondary subjects. After a review of the course content in the third year, students submit their doctoral dissertation by early November of the fourth year. Once accepted by the Graduate School of Medicine Committee, they undergo a doctoral dissertation defense around January. If the doctoral dissertation is approved by the Graduate School of Medicine Committee by March, the student completes the program (obtaining a doctoral degree).

Keio University School of Medicine started in 1920 as the first private university medical school, following the "Keio University Medical School" founded in 1873. The Graduate School of Medicine Doctoral Programs opened in April 1956 as a new graduate school and was operated for many years with five programs: three basic programs (Physiology, Pathology, and Preventive Medicine) and two clinical programs (Internal Medicine and Surgery). However, the basic-clinical integrated research system based on the Kitasato spirit—the founder of Keio Medicine—which emphasizes "close cooperation between basic and clinical medicine, and the fusion of the school like one family," has gained momentum and flourished since the adoption of the COE (Center of Excellence) program. As a result, graduate students in clinical fields have made full use of excellent research facilities such as the Center for Integrated Medical Research, and the results of joint research between basic and clinical departments are frequently published. To merge these and develop them as a single academic system, the previous five programs were consolidated into the "Medical Science Program."

In fiscal year 2007, momentum grew to foster high-quality cancer specialists by bringing together the wisdom of basic and clinical medicine across clinical departments. With support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the "Cancer Professional Training Plan (Gan-pro)" was launched. The need arose to train such human resources as part of graduate education capable of degree conferral. Furthermore, in Japan, where clinical research is considered weak compared to other countries, it has become an urgent task to train individuals who can design and manage excellent clinical research that could be published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Since the existing structure of the Graduate School of Medicine could not fully handle this new form of human resource development related to medical care, the "Applied Medicine Program" was established in fiscal year 2009. In other words, the Graduate School of Medicine was reborn into a two-program system consisting of the "Medical Science Program," which consolidated the previous five programs, and the new "Applied Medicine Program." Recruitment and selection under this two-program system began for students entering in April 2009.

Furthermore, we allow students to conduct research for degree acquisition at domestic partner institutions such as the National Cancer Center, the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, and the Shizuoka Cancer Center.

Many of the compulsory core subject lectures for the Graduate School of Medicine Doctoral Programs (Special Medical Lecture, medical methodology, and Bioethics) are conducted in English, providing an international and practical learning environment without distinction between Japanese and international students. The number of international students enrolled in the Graduate School of Medicine is increasing every year, from 18 in 2016 to 35 in 2019, and 53 as of April 2021, all studying and challenging each other. Foreign researchers are present in each laboratory, and many short-term international students from overseas medical schools also visit.

In addition, we encourage graduate students to participate in international conferences and study abroad, focusing on developing researchers who can be active internationally. At regular meetings of The Keio Medical Society and seminars hosted by various laboratories, students can learn about cutting-edge research from leading domestic and international researchers, promoting international research collaboration.

In fiscal year 2020, although overseas travel was restricted due to the spread of COVID-19, international joint research has actively continued.

Since 2011, the Graduate School of Medicine Doctoral Programs has offered a Joint Summer School with Karolinska Institutet, Peking University Health Science Center, and King's College London (joined in 2014). Every year, lecture courses and lab work are held at one of the participating schools. This is a credit transfer program where participants can earn credits from their home institution by attending the entire program. We aim to develop this into a double degree program in the future.

We also provide opportunities to advance research through joint research and study abroad by partnering with world-class research institutions such as the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (USA), Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), UCSF Gladstone Institutes (USA), UCSD (USA), and INSERM (France).