October 4, 2012
Mid-term Inter-Professional Education Program Held
On Saturday, September 29, the Mid-term Inter-Professional Education Program was held at the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC).
The Inter-Professional Education Program, officially launched in the 2011 academic year, is a class where students from the School of Medicine, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, and Faculty of Pharmacy interact with one another. The program aims to foster broad-minded medical professionals who can make significant contributions to team-based medical care in the future.
In the 2012 academic year, under the theme of "A Practical Program for Patient-Centered Medical Education through a Group Approach," a mid-term education program was launched. This was in addition to the early-stage (for new students) and late-stage (for final-year students) education programs that were also held last year. The program targeted fourth-year students from the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy, and second-year students from the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. A total of 345 students gathered at SFC on the day.
The program began with opening remarks from the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care. This was followed by a lecture by Miki Akiyama, an associate professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, on the theme of "Team-Based Medical Care that Meets Patient Needs." Afterward, students moved into small classrooms in their respective groups to discuss the topic: "Deepen understanding of the medical team for providing patient-centered care and be able to present what constitutes a good medical team."
Each group consisted of about seven to eight people. Although some groups found their discussions diverging, with advice from faculty members participating as facilitators, all groups were ultimately able to give a presentation in their classroom.
After the classroom presentations concluded, everyone gathered in the hall again. Following encouraging words from the Dean of the School of Medicine, four selected groups—one from each of the four classroom buildings, Kappa (κ), Epsilon (ε), Iota (ι), and Omicron (ο)—gave their presentations. Each group approached the topic from various perspectives, resulting in highly unique presentations.
The mid-term education program concluded with closing remarks from the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Despite concerns about an approaching typhoon, SFC was blessed with fine weather on the day, creating a bright and cheerful atmosphere suitable for the students from the three faculties to interact. Students commented that they wanted to learn more about each other's faculties and felt they could deepen their own expertise by understanding the differences with other medical professions. There were also comments about the difficulty of discussing topics with people from other professions, and it seemed that each student was able to get a feel for what it would be like in a future medical setting.
The Inter-Professional Education Program is scheduled to be held again next year. We hope that the students who participated in this mid-term program will reunite in the late-stage program in a few years and will have grown to the point where they can engage in even more lively discussions.
Photo: Shin Ishido