25th Anniversary of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care—The Next 25 Years | Kaori Yagasaki, Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care
This year, 2026, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care celebrates its 25th anniversary. Centered around the Planning Committee established two years ago, we have been steadily making preparations. The long-awaited day is finally approaching.
Twenty-five years ago, this faculty was established with the goal of "cultivating human resources who will be leaders in nursing." Since its opening, the many graduates we have sent out have been active in various fields as public health nurses, midwives, and nurses in hospitals, medical institutions, communities, and home care settings both in Japan and abroad. In recent years, an increasing number of graduates have gone on to graduate school to become advanced practice nurses, such as Certified Nurse Specialists or Nurse Practitioners (NP), or nursing administrators, playing pioneering roles in promoting health, supporting medical treatment, and improving Quality of Life, thereby leading the field of nursing. Furthermore, they are contributing to society in diverse ways, such as starting businesses in various fields by utilizing their knowledge of nursing and medical care or pioneering new domains. The 25th-anniversary projects currently under preparation aim to provide a place where these graduates, current students, and faculty and staff can interact across generations. I hope this occasion will be a powerful step toward the next 25 years. To all our graduates and current students, please do come to the venue. Over the past quarter-century, society and the environment surrounding nursing and medical care have changed and developed rapidly. I wonder how the current state of the faculty appears to the professors who worked so hard at the time of its establishment. I would like to hear their candid opinions on how close we have come to their initial expectations and aspirations.
Recently, I have found myself thinking more often about "the next 25 years." I find myself wondering how the world will change and how nursing and medical care will develop. There is no doubt that our graduates, current students, and those who will enter this faculty in the future will lead society and nursing care as next-generation leaders. Within that context, my personal interest lies in the symbiosis between generative AI and humans. Just the other day, a headline in the newspaper (Nikkei, February 1, 2026) caught my eye: "The 'Poison' of AI-Generated Scientific Papers." It pointed out the increase in "low-quality papers" allegedly written using AI and noted that AI is beginning to influence human intellectual activity. In the future, AI will likely be utilized at an accelerating pace in various medical situations. How will nursing and medical care change over the next 25 years? No matter how much technology advances, I believe that AI will never surpass the essence of nursing: skills provided by human hands, knowledge, and above all, warmth, kindness, and human touch. Rather, I believe that by having AI intelligently support busy and complex medical settings, we will be able to focus even more on the care that only humans can provide. I look forward to and sincerely hope for the arrival of such an era in the next 25 years.