Curriculum Policy of Medical School
Medical School
The Medical School curriculum seeks to educate medical professionals with the academic skills noted in the Medical School Diploma Policy. This includes a deep sense of humanity and well-roundedness, special skills in line with the program objectives, information skills that can be effectively utilized, the ability to take the lead in our current time period and social conditions, and self-actualization skills that are implemented over a lifetime. To achieve this, our curriculum features a hands-on structure comprised of both general education and discipline-specific subjects.
During their first year, in addition to general education classes including languages, liberal arts and sports offered throughout the university, students take specialized basic education and specialized subjects to acquire both knowledge and skills. From their second year onward, along with taking highly specialized classes in the different departments, students gain hands-on experience at medical institutions. This prepares our graduates to be fully qualified to take the national examinations.
Faculty of Medicine
To properly educate clinical physicians and medical scientists, our students must not only possess ample academic and technical knowledge but also have developed a deep sense of humanity. Our educational philosophy in this faculty enables students to become steeped in ethics, attain a high level of proficiency in scientific methodology, and gain sophisticated medical knowledge and skills, all for the purpose of facilitating their development as physicians and medical scientists deserving of the full trust of the public. To achieve our philosophical goals, we have devised a Diploma Policy that students come to embrace over the course of a six-year program featuring a model core curriculum for medical education.
Faculty of Health Sciences
The Faculty of Health Sciences at Okayama University Medical School has three departments: the Department of Nursing, the Department of Radiological Technology, and the Department of Medical Technology. The class subjects are divided into general education and major courses. Courses are structured systematically in order to fulfill the diploma policy of the Faculty of Health Sciences. In the first year, in addition to general education courses such as foreign languages, etc., students will learn knowledge and techniques common to each major, which is the basis of medical care. Students will also take introductory courses in their major. Additionally, students must understand the idea of "Team Medical Activities", which is the core of the medical profession. They will learn about this through seminars and required subjects.
From the second year, while studying general education subjects, students will focus more on lectures, seminars, and laboratory experiments to learn the basic knowledge and skills of their majors. In the lectures, seminars, and laboratory experiments, there is more emphasis on active learning and problem-based learning.
From the third year, students will take major subjects with more specialized skills. In many areas, students will start actual clinical training at affiliated hospitals. There are also opportunities for students to join study abroad programs or internships in their second or third year by utilizing the four-term system.
In the fourth year, while doing their practical training, each student will be assigned to a laboratory to learn the fundamentals of research in a seminar class, and complete their graduation thesis under the guidance of their supervisor. Furthermore, students will enhance their expertise by learning about the newest medical treatments while studying the regular coursework in the undergraduate medical system departments. In the second half of their fourth year, the national exams for national qualifications (for nurses, public health nurses, medical radiology technicians, clinical laboratory technicians, etc.) are conducted. The general rule is that all students take the examination of their target occupation. This course of study prepares our graduates to be fully qualified to take the national examinations.