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Characteristics: The medical school is a pioneer among Japanese medical schools in revolutionizing the traditional education system. In 1990, our educational policy changed from teacher-centered education to learner-centered education. Under the new policy, the curriculum has been altered from "knowledge provided education" to a "learning-to-learn education". The new education system included problem-based learning (PBL) tutorial. In the PBL tutorial, students find problems from given cases, analyze and solve the problems in small study groups assisted by the facilitator of discussion, called a tutor. Class-style teaching and practical work experience are combined with PBL tutorials.
The curriculum: The undergraduate course is a six-year program, with 4 preclinical and 2 clinical years. However, various clinical experiences are provided during the preclinical years. The first and seconds years covers general and basic medical sciences which are integrated into several themes of human biology. The rest of the preclinical years cover organ-based, the whole span of human life-based, and social medicine. The last two years are clinical clerkships. A student completed this six-year course receives the degree of "Gakushi" (M.D.), and is thereby qualified for taking an examination for the national medical board. In 2004, additional two year internship after graduation from the medical school became mandatory by legislation to be certified as “health insurance-certified physician”.
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