Introduction: "A New Resolution" | Kikuko Ota (Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care)

2009.10.19

It is a pleasure to meet you. As of October, I have taken over from the former dean, Kaeko Yamashita, as the new dean. I look forward to working with you all.

The Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care was established in April 2001 and will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.

Four years after its establishment, we celebrated our first graduating class, and at the same time, the Graduate School of Health Management was newly established. Next spring, the doctoral program will reach its completion year, and I feel that we will finally be coming into our own.

Looking back to the early days of our establishment, with many new faculty members including myself, it took time to understand everything from communication and curriculum to faculty management. Communication among students and faculty across both the SFC and Shinanomachi campuses remains a challenge, but we have managed to move forward through various discussions. In this context, learning about the spirit of the Juku was a very fresh and interesting experience. This is partly because my experience, having been educated in a private school and later working at a public university, has made me keenly aware of the importance of a university having a shared spirit among its faculty, staff, and students. A shared spirit fosters a sense of mutual understanding, enriches human relationships, and becomes a source of energy to face various difficulties and challenges, so it must be carefully passed down.

For Keio University, the history of nursing education is very long. It has been passed down from the Department of Medicine Nurse Training Center, the Kosei Women's College, the Keio Junior College of Nursing, and now to the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2018. As we move into "Faculty Ver. 2," beyond the 10th anniversary of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care's establishment, one of our key faculty policies will be "development based on the evolution of undergraduate education," which I would like to discuss briefly.

To properly preserve the 10-year history of the faculty's establishment and pass it on to the future, we would like to consider commemorative projects such as publishing a memorial journal and holding a symposium.

Taking this as an opportunity, we would like to reflect on our journey so far and clarify our vision for the type of human resources we aim to cultivate in the faculty for the future. Based on this vision, we will consider the relationship between undergraduate education and the nursing professional qualification system, as well as the connection between undergraduate and graduate education.

We also want to promote the internationalization of undergraduate education. We aim to create a foundation for students to be active with a broad global perspective by promoting overseas training courses, supporting students' independent initiatives abroad, and fostering international exchange both at home and abroad.

We also intend to promote interprofessional education. To build a foundation for professional collaboration from the undergraduate level, we will hold workshops with the School of Medicine and the Faculty of Pharmacy, and strive to cultivate the future leaders of team-based healthcare.

SFC has warmly welcomed the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care and has been proactive in collaborating with us since our establishment. A good example is the e-Care research project, which I am leading. We are always learning a great deal from their innovative ideas and their flexible yet reliable ability to take action. I hope that this kind of educational and research exchange among students and faculty, which transcends faculty boundaries, will flourish even more in SFC's rich natural and local environment, and I will strive to ensure that our many future-oriented challenges bear fruit.

(Date of publication: 2009/10/19)