Diploma Policy (Principles guiding graduation requirements)

Graduates of the School of Medicine will gain a comprehensive knowledge of fundamental medicine, preventative medicine, and diagnosis as well as how to implement appropriate treatment, through the inculcation of current medical knowledge and state-of-the-art techniques. They will also gain a sense of ethics, awareness of one’s community, and an international perspective as 21st century citizens. Before graduation students will acquire the following skills and knowledge.

① Linguistic competence

Graduates will gain:

＊Effective communication skills for medical and research settings.

＊Effective listening and empathy skills for interviewing patients, enabling the carrying out of a patient-centered approach.

＊The ability to assume leadership positions when working in medical teams and research groups involving different groups of professionals.

＊An international perspective, and the ability to gather current information on medicine and medical research published outside of Japan.

② Knowledge and understanding necessary for 21st century medical graduates

Graduates will gain:

＊Medical knowledge based on information in a variety of disciples, including liberal arts fields, basic sciences, social sciences, and pathophysiology.

＊The knowledge and inferential skills required to proceed from symptoms to differential and definitive diagnosis.

＊Fundamental diagnostic skills and techniques required for the maintenance of a safe and secure medical environment.

③ Problem-solving and information gathering skills

Graduates will gain:

＊The ability, on one’s initiative, to identify problems in connection to one’s studies and in clinical settings, and to find solutions to these problems.

＊The ability to carry out one’s studies as an autonomous learner with passion and a drive for improvement.

④ A sense of ethics and social responsibility

＊A sense of ethics, mission, and responsibility enabling one to carry out one’s work as a medical doctor and medical researcher with thorough professionalism.

＊The ability to devote themselves to their work as medical professionals across their lifetimes.

＊Respect for laws and customs as a member of society in carrying out their work.

⑤ Community-mindedness

Graduates will gain:

＊Understanding of social welfare systems in one’s community, and the ability to work with nursing homes and other welfare facilities in actively engaging in community medicine.

Curriculum Policy (Principles underlying the educational framework and experiential learning)

In the School of Medicine at Kagawa University, the guiding principles for graduation requirements (diploma policy) are reflected in a curriculum that consists of both general education courses (more than 29 credits) and specialized medical courses (more than 159 credits). Upon completion of the course, students take tests and are evaluated for their knowledge and techniques acquired. Students must pass common achievement tests (CBT, OSCE) to proceed to bed-side learning courses. At least 188 total credits are required for graduation. 　

The principles outlined in the diploma policy are realized through the educational methods described below.
 
① Linguistic competence

Communication courses such as Communicative English I, II, III within the general education curriculum are designed to develop students’ fundamental foreign language skills. In addition, German, French, Chinese, and Korean language are offered as a second foreign language in the first year of general education. Specialized foreign language courses (Medical English I and II) are offered by the Faculty of Medicine in the third year to prepare students for the English demands required of medical doctors.

In order to develop medical and academic communication skills, both general education seminar courses and specialized courses that limit the class size to a low number of students are offered, providing the opportunity to experience Problem Based Learning (PBL).

②Knowledge and comprehension skills necessary for 21st century medical graduates

General education courses offer students a wide range of knowledge from various disciplines in addition to medical knowledge. Specialized basic courses are offered in the first and second year in addition to general education courses. Basic medicine courses (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Medical Zoology, and Endocrinology) are offered in the second and third year. Integrated clinical medicine courses are offered in the third and fourth year for systematic understanding of diseases through an organ/system-based curriculum. Social medicine courses (Hygiene, Public Health, and Forensic Medicine) are offered in the fourth year. In addition, a variety of courses will provide students with diverse knowledge that will enable them to act and succeed on the global stage.

③ Problem-solving and information-gathering skills

In order to develop students’ problem-solving and information-gathering skills, a variety of courses that limit the class size to a low number of students or small group work are offered during the 6-year program. The University Introductory Seminar in the first year is an example of a course that helps to develop students’ problem-solving and information-gathering skills. Small group problem-based learning (PBL) is implemented to promote interactive education and active learning in several courses such as Practice of Medical Professionalism, and Symptomatology & PBL Tutorial. Practical courses of Early Medical Institute Training and Research Lab Training develop problem-solving skills and research mind through laboratory experiments. Also, in Bed-side Learning (Clinical Clerkship), students gain problem-solving and information-gathering skills through communicating with other medical staff and patients.

④ A sense of ethics and social responsibility

In the first year, students gain a greater understanding of ethical issues in society through Theme-based Course A: Life and Career in the general education. In specialized courses offered by the Faculty of Medicine, Outline of Medical Sciences, Practice of Medical Professionalism, Introduction of Clinical Medicine, and Bed-side Learning (Clinical Clerkship) foster highly ethic and humane students, and cultivate social responsibility as medical doctors and scientists.

⑤ Community-mindedness

In the first year of general education, students learn about fundamental problems in the local community through Theme-based Course C: Community-Mindedness. In specialized medical courses, students learn various issues of regional welfare and health care through Practice of Medical Professionalism, Hygiene, Public Health, and Community-based Health Care.

Admission policy (Principles underlying university admission)

◇ Academic abilities, capabilities and qualities required for prospective students
Prospective students are expected to have the following academic abilities, capabilities, and competencies:

① Solid acquisition of knowledge and skills
＊ Knowledge and skills acquired through education at the high school level in a variety of academic disciplines, which are essential for mastering expertise and skills specialized in medicine

② Critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression
＊ Ability to collect and evaluate information, logical thinking and judgement of information to form opinions, and self-expression to effectively convey the formed opinions to others and to carry them into effect.

③ Independence, diversity, and cooperativeness
＊ Ability to independently and autonomously extract problems in medicine, to deliberate the problems from divergent perspectives, and to solve the problems in cooperation with others

④ Enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective
＊ Continuous interest toward the ever-progressing knowledge and skills in medical science and medical practice, and enthusiasm to autonomously learn such knowledge and skills for a lifetime

⑤ Ethics and societal responsibility
＊ A high sense of ethics required as a physician who handles irreplaceable human life and as a scientist who succeeds to a tradition of medical science and medical practice and contributes to their advancement
＊ A high level of societal responsibility to comply with laws and ordinances as well as social norms not only as a physician or as a scientist, but also as a member of general society.

◇ Specific academic abilities required prior to the entrance of School of Medicine
＊ Prospective students are expected to have fundamental academic abilities especially in the subjects of science, mathematics, and languages including English.
＊ Prospective students are expected to have a wide range of fundamental knowledge in the subject of science, with physics, chemistry, and biology as mandatory subjects in order to logically understand the scientific basis of life and to complete their medical education.
＊ Prospective students are expected to have a good command of English fundamentally sufficient for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English.
＊ Prospective students are expected to have a good command of language/Japanese fundamentally sufficient for logically constructing opinions from fact and acquired information, explicitly expressing one’s opinions, and efficiently communicating with others.

◇ Selection of Applicants
○ General Admission Test:
Phase 1 dates
＊ The National Center Test is used to assess the fundamental academic abilities in five subjects: science, mathematics, English, Japanese and social studies.
＊ Basic ability of language/Japanese is required for logical thinking and writing, and self-expression in an appropriate manner.
＊ A wide range of knowledge in science, especially in physics, chemistry and biology, is evaluated in the individual institutional test. Such knowledge in natural science is required for logical understanding of scientific basis of life and completion of medical education.
＊ The mathematics test in the individual institutional test is used to assess the ability of logical thinking and basic calculation skills which form the basis of science.
＊ The English test in the individual institutional test is used to assess knowledge and skills in English, which are required for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English. A good command of English is a fundamental ability to promote international activity.
＊ In the interview, critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression; the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people; enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective; and a sense of ethics and societal responsibility are evaluated with a special focus on the sense of purpose and willingness to learn medicine, humanity, and logical attitude.

Phase 2 dates
＊ The National Center Test is used to assess the fundamental academic abilities in five subjects: science, mathematics, English, Japanese and social studies, with special emphasis on science, mathematics and English.
＊ A wide range of knowledge in science, especially in physics, chemistry and biology, is evaluated in the individual institutional test. The English test in the individual institutional test is used to assess knowledge and skills in English, which are required for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English.
＊ In the interview, critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression; the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people; enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective; and a sense of ethics and societal responsibility are evaluated with a special focus on the sense of purpose and willingness to learn medicine, humanity, and logical attitude.


○ Special Admission:
Recommendation-based entrance exam requiring the National Center Test for university admission (Recommendation-based admission II)
＊ The National Center Test is used to assess the fundamental academic abilities in three subjects: science, mathematics, and English.
＊ A wide range of knowledge in science, especially in physics, chemistry, and biology, is evaluated in the individual institutional test. The English test in the individual institutional test is used to assess knowledge and skills in English, which are required for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English.
＊ In the interview, the statement of reason of application, a letter of recommendation and student credentials at high school will be referred to and critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression; the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people; enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective; and a sense of ethics and societal responsibility will be evaluated with a special focus on the sense of purpose and willingness to learn medicine, humanity, and logical attitude. The student credentials are also used to assess the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people. The applicants are asked to give a clear and persuasive response to the questions in an explicit and logical manner.

Entrance exam for self-funded international students
＊ The mathematics test in the individual institutional test is used to assess the ability of logical thinking and basic calculation skills, which form the basis of science.
＊ A wide range of knowledge in science, especially in physics, chemistry and biology, is evaluated in the individual institutional test. Such knowledge in natural science is required for logical understanding of scientific basis of life and completion of medical education.
＊ The English test is used to assess knowledge and skills in English, which are required for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English.
＊ In the interview, critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression; the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people; enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective; and a sense of ethics and societal responsibility are evaluated with a special focus on the sense of purpose and willingness to learn medicine, humanity, and logical attitude.

○ Transfer Student Admission:
Entrance exam for transfer students to the second year of medical school
＊ The comprehensive test on natural science is used to assess a wide range of knowledge in science, especially in physics, chemistry, and biology.
＊ The score of TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is used to assess knowledge and skills in English, which are required for reading and writing textbooks and articles and communicating in English. A good command of English is fundamental to promote international activity.
＊ In the interview, the self-application form, a list of previous research activities and themes, and publications will be referred to and critical thinking, judgement, and self‐expression; the ability to autonomously learn in cooperation with a diverse range of people; enthusiasm, willingness, and perspective; and a sense of ethics and societal responsibility will be evaluated with a special focus on the sense of purpose and willingness to learn medicine, humanity, and logical attitude. The applicants are asked to give a clear and persuasive response to the questions in an explicit and logical manner.