Rethinking Ethics and History Education in Japanese Medical Schools: Reflections from a Medical Student’s Visit to the Site of Unit 731

IntroductionUnderstanding the perceptions of medical students and faculty members regarding unprofessional behavior is crucial to appropriately guide medical students’ behavior. This study aimed to clarify the differences in perceptions of unprofessional behavior in clinical settings among Japanese medical students and faculty members.MethodsThis single-center, cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Saga University. Participants were faculty members who participated in a faculty development program on medical students’ unprofessional behaviors in December 2024 and fourth-year medical students who attended a similar lecture in January 2025. The survey items were determined through identifying common unprofessional behaviors based on previous reports and following a discussion with faculty members responsible for pre-graduate education. Participants were divided into faculty and student groups, and differences in perceptions were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.ResultsParticipants comprised 40 (response rate 22%) faculty and 65 (64%) students. The faculty group showed significantly lower perceptions of being unprofessional in the following behaviors than the student group: violation of privacy or confidentiality obligations (odds ratio 0.089, 95% confidence interval 0.010–0.766); false statements or misrepresentation (0.180, 0.034–0.940); inappropriate use of social networking services (0.150, 0.029–0.762); fabrication or falsification of data (0.228, 0.005–0.941); bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment (0.047, 0.006–0.383). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified “bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment (0.058, 0.007–0.487)” as the only factor on which their perceptions differed significantly.ConclusionBoth faculty members and medical students perceived the unprofessional behaviors of medical students similarly, except in the cases of bullying, discrimination, and sexual harassment. However, since faculty members considered five behaviors to be less unprofessional, their perceptions regarding unprofessional behaviors need to be realigned so that they can better guide medical students toward becoming better professionals in the future, thereby improving patient outcomes.

This book is the first comprehensive history of medical student culture and medical education in Ireland from the middle of the nineteenth century until the 1950s. Utilising a variety of rich sources, including novels, newspapers, student magazines, doctors’ memoirs, and oral history accounts, it examines Irish medical student life and culture, incorporating students’ educational and extra-curricular activities at all of the Irish medical schools. The book investigates students' experiences in the lecture theatre, hospital, dissecting room and outside their studies, such as in ‘digs’, sporting teams and in student societies, illustrating how representations of medical students changed in Ireland over the period and examines the importance of class, religious affiliation and the appropriate traits that students were expected to possess. It highlights religious divisions as well as the dominance of the middle classes in Irish medical schools while also exploring institutional differences, the students’ decisions to pursue medical education, emigration and the experiences of women medical students within a predominantly masculine sphere. Through an examination of the history of medical education in Ireland, this book builds on our understanding of the Irish medical profession while also contributing to the wider scholarship of student life and culture. It will appeal to those interested in the history of medicine, the history of education and social history in modern Ireland.

Background As information science and technology (IST) is expected to continue to develop in the future, Recent studies have highlighted the importance for medical students to acquire the competencies required to use IST related to digital health. In Japan, learning objectives related to the use of IST are described as competencies in the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education (MCC)—an official guide for undergraduate education.Regarding the competencies of students who have studied under the existing curriculum to use IST, information is insufficient. Our research focused on the following research question: Do medical students under the current curriculum self-assess the acquisition of the competencies required to use IST? Summary of Work We conducted a -sectional study using a questionnaire from November 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023 among final-year medical students (sixth year) at all 82 medical schools in Japan. The items for self-assessing medical students’ competencies required for using IST were developed the learning objectives described as competencies in the MCC 2022 Revision. Summary of Results The 824 participants who agreed to participate in the study provided valid responses with no missing values for any questionnaire items. In particular low self-assessment for IST subcompetencies included “The regulations, laws, and guidelines”, “Ethical issues, such as social disparities”, and “IST related to medical care”. In these all subcompetencies, students who self-assessed themselves as able or somewhat able tended to report having taken related classes (p < 0.05). Discussion and Conclusion One reason for this result is the lack of learning opportunities related to these three subcompetencies in Japanese medical schools. The 2017 revised MCC, which constitutes the current curriculum, only includes the operation of electronic medical records and the protection of patients' electronic personal information and does not include other competencies to use IST. The new MCC will also include classes related to the three subcompetencies for which self-assessment was low. Take-home Message The results suggest that conducting relevant classes in medical schools is important for acquiring competencies to make use of IST. After the new curriculum is implemented and relevant classes are conducted, Japanese medical students' self-assessments need to be re-assessed.

To examine psychometric properties of a Japanese translation of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), and to study differences in empathy scores between men and women, and students in different years of medical school. The student version of the JSPE was translated into Japanese using back-translation procedures and administered to 400 Japanese students from all six years at the Okayama University Medical School. Item-total score correlations were calculated. Factor analysis was used to examine the underlying components of the Japanese version of the JSPE. Cronbach coefficient alpha was calculated to assess the internal consistency aspect of reliability of the instrument. Finally, empathy scores for men and women were compared using t test, and score differences by year of medical school were examined using analysis of variance. Factor analysis confirmed the three components of "perspective taking," "compassionate care," and "ability to stand in patient's shoes," which had emerged in American and Mexican medical students. Item-total score correlations were all positive and statistically significant. Cronbach coefficient alpha was .80. Women outscored men, and empathy scores increased as students progressed through medical school in this cross-sectional study. Findings provide support for the construct validity and reliability of the Japanese translated version of the JSPE for medical students. Cultural characteristics and educational differences in Japanese medical schools that influence empathic behaviors are described, and implications for cross-cultural study of empathy are discussed.

PHOTO ID 121339257© Designer491| Dreamstime.com ABSTRACT When physicians use their clinical knowledge and skills to advance the well-being of their patients, there may be apparent conflict between patient autonomy and physician beneficence. We are skeptical that today’s medical ethics education adequately fosters future physicians’ commitment to beneficence, which is both rationally defensible and fundamentally consistent with patient autonomy. We use an ethical dilemma that was presented to a group of third-year medical students to examine how ethics education might be causing them to give undue deference to autonomy, thereby undermining their commitment to beneficence. INTRODUCTION The right of patients to choose which treatments they prefer is rooted in today’s social mores and taught as a principle of medical ethics as respect for autonomy. Yet, when physicians use their clinical knowledge and skills to advance the well-being of their patients, there may be a conflict between patient autonomy and physician beneficence. We are skeptical that today’s medical ethics education adequately fosters a commitment to beneficence, which is both rationally defensible and fundamentally consistent with patient autonomy. I. An Ethical Dilemma The impetus for this paper arose when students who were completing their third clinical year discussed a real-life ethical dilemma. A middle-aged man developed a pulmonary hemorrhage while on blood thinners for a recently placed coronary stent. The bleeding was felt to be reversible, but the patient needed immediate intubation or he would die. The cardiologist was told that the patient previously expressed to other physicians that he never wanted to be intubated. However, the cardiologist made the decision to intubate the patient anyway, and the patient eventually recovered.[1] Students were asked if they believed that the cardiologist had acted ethically. Their overwhelming response was, “No, the patient should have been allowed to die.” We looked into how students applied ethical reasoning to conclude that this outcome was ethically preferred. To explore how the third-year clinical experience might have formed the students’ judgment, we presented the same case to students who were just beginning their third year. Their responses were essentially uniform in recommending intubation. While there is likely more than one reasonable view in this case, we agree with the physician and the younger medical students that intubation was the ethically appropriate decision and will present an argument for it. But first, we explain the reasoning behind the more advanced medical students’ decision to choose patient autonomy at the expense of beneficence. II. Medical Ethics Education and the Priority of Autonomy Beauchamp and Childress’s Principles of Biomedical Ethics, first published in 1979 and now in its 8th edition, is a significant part of the formal ethics education in medical school.[2] Students learn an ethical decision-making approach based on respect for four ethical principles: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. While Beauchamp and Childress officially afford no prima facie superiority to any principle, the importance of respect for patient autonomy has increased through the editions of their book. For example, early editions of their book opposed the legalization of physician-assisted death compared to recent editions that defended it.[3] As another example, Beauchamp and Childress make paternalism harder to justify by adding an autonomy-protecting condition to the list of conditions for acceptable paternalism.[4] Authority, they contend, need not conflict with autonomy—provided the authority is autonomously chosen.[5] “The main requirement,” they write, “is to respect a particular patient’s or subject’s autonomous choices, whatever they may be.[6] In the principlism of Beauchamp and Childress, autonomy now seems to have a kind of default priority.[7] However, the bioethics discourse has strong counternarratives, noting some movement to elevate the role of beneficence and to respect the input of stakeholders, including the family and the healthcare team. Ethics education achieves particular relevance in the third clinical year when students become embedded in the care of patients and learn from what has been called the informal curriculum. They observe how attending physicians approach day-to-day ethical problems at the patient’s bedside. In this context, students observe the importance of informed consent for serious treatments or invasive procedures, a practice that highlights the principle of patient autonomy. In both the formal and informal curriculum, medical students observe how, in the words of Paul Wolpe, “patient autonomy has become the central and most powerful principle in ethical decision-making in American medicine.”[8] In short, students appear to learn a deference for patient autonomy. This curricular shift in favor of autonomy coincides with legal developments that protect patients’ rights and decision-making with respect to their healthcare choices. The priority of autonomy in medicine benefits patients by reflecting their choices and, in some cases, their fundamental liberty. III. The Practice of Medicine and the Commitment to Beneficence There are many critiques of the dominant place that autonomy has in biomedical ethics,[9] especially considering that autonomy seems to be biased toward individualistic, Western, and somewhat American culture-driven values.[10] In addition, many bioethical dilemmas are cast as a conflict between autonomy and beneficence. Our point is that medical students bring to their study of medicine a commitment to beneficence that seems to be suppressed by practical ethics education. We think this commitment is rationally defensible and should be nurtured. It is striking that young medical students have a pre-reflective commitment to beneficence at all. For, as we mentioned, it is not just medicine but Western culture generally that prioritizes autonomy in settling ethical dilemmas. In wanting to act for the good of others (rather than simply agreeing to what others want), physicians are already swimming somewhat against the cultural tide.[11] However, doing so makes sense, given the nature of medicine and the profession of healing. When prospective medical students are asked why they wish to become physicians, the usual answer is some variation on caring for the sick and preventing disease. It is unlikely that a reason to become a physician is to respect a patient’s autonomy. It would be easy to dismiss medical students’ commitment to beneficence as a mere intuition and contrary to a more reasoned and deliberative approach. Beauchamp and Childress seem to minimize the value of physician intuition, stating that justifications for certain procedures are “…supported by good reasons. They need not rest merely in intuition or feeling.”[12] Henry Richardson writes that “situational or perceptive intuition…leaves the reasons for decision unarticulated.”[13] We think this is a crude and rather thin way of understanding intuition. Some bioethicists have defended intuition as essential to the practice of medicine and not something opposed to reason.[14] In the case we describe, we believe the ethical justifications s for the patient’s intubation are fundamentally sound: the patient did not have a “do not intubate” order written in the chart, the emergency intubation had not been foreseen, so the patient did not have the opportunity to consent to or reject intubation; the patient had consented to the treatment for his cardiac disease so his consent for intubation could have been assumed;[15] and the consequences of respecting his autonomy did not justify allowing him to die.[16] While it is possible to have more than one reasonable view on this case, we think the case for beneficence is strong and certainly should not be dismissed out of hand. We do not deny that if a patient makes a clearly documented, well-informed decision to forgo intubation that this decision ought to be respected by the physician (even if the physician disagrees with the patient’s decision). But, in this situation, as in many others in the practice of medicine, the patient’s real wishes and preferences are not well-articulated in advance. There are many cases where a physician acts based on what she believes the patient, or the surrogate, would want, sometimes in situations that do not allow much time for reflection. An example might be resuscitation of a newborn at the borderline of viability. In their ethics education, beneficence would mean acting first to save a life. If the patient or surrogate makes an informed decision to the contrary, a beneficent physician respects that autonomous decision. In the case presented, the patient expressed gratitude to the cardiologist when extubated. But what if he had expressed anger at the physician for violating his autonomy? There are those who could argue that not only was intubation ethically wrong but that the cardiologist put himself in legal jeopardy by his actions (especially if there had been a written refusal applicable to the specific situation). In the example we use, we point out that the cardiologist may not have escaped a lawsuit if the patient had died without intubation. His family, when hearing the circumstances, may have sued for failure to act and dereliction of the cardiologist’s duty to save him. Beyond a potential legal challenge for either action or inaction, there is an overriding ethical question the cardiologist had to address: what course would be most satisfying to his conscience? Would he rather allow a patient to die for fear of recrimination, or act to save his life, regardless of the personal consequences? In the absence of real knowledge about the patient’s considered wishes, it is most reasonable to err on the side of promoting patient well-being. A physician’s co

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to considerable advances in medical education through technological integration. The crisis generated by the pandemic in medical practice, education, and evolving technology has led to changes in the skills of medical professionals. This study aimed to examine the competencies required of medical students in the post-pandemic era. We conducted 2 mixed-methods studies. Study 1 explored medical students' necessary competencies after the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted group work with faculty members and students from the Chiba University School of Medicine, captured proposed competencies, discussed them, and qualitatively analyzed the group work data using content analysis to extract the competencies. Study 2 was a secondary data analysis that compared the categories identified in Study 1 with the competencies required prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which were extracted from the websites of all 82 medical schools and colleges in Japan, to identify the differences in competencies before and after the pandemic. Study 1 resulted in the identification of 12 categories and 62 subcategories. The results of Study 2 showed that the increased occurrence of competencies was related to the utilization of information and communication technology (ICT) and artificial intelligence (AI), self-management, information gathering and explanation, liberal arts and generic skills, and exploring medicine and medical care/research presentations. The prevalence rates of these factors prior to the COVID-19 outbreak were 17.1%, 28.0%, 39.0%, 41.5%, and 48.8%, respectively. Competency-based medical education in ICT, self-management, and medical exploration has become increasingly important after the pandemic. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an educational curriculum to enable medical students to acquire these competencies. The study findings contribute to the literature on medical education and offer valuable insight into setting effective academic goals and designing suitable curricula for undergraduate medical students in the post-pandemic era.

There has been a decline in the number of medical students applying for thoracic surgery training programs. We obtained knowledge of medical students' views on thoracic surgery residency programs. After completion of thoracic surgery clerkship, 17 students were asked to fill out questionnaires on first-year thoracic surgery residency programs. The majority of students considered thoracic surgery to be held in high regard by the general public, and felt that the salary was sufficient. However, only one student chose a thoracic surgery training program. The main reason for not applying for thoracic surgery residency was lifestyle issues. The factors in determining career choice included quality of education and work hours. Medical students are likely to select specialties other than thoracic surgery. Since the main factor influencing medical students' career is the quality of education in a residency program, efforts should be made to improve the quality of education.

Background It has been reported that doctors have poor attitudes towards collaboration with health professionals, and that female medical students have more collaborative attitudes than male students. The aim of this study was to reveal medical trainees’ attitudes toward team collaboration and clarify an effective educational intervention. Summary of Work This was a cross-sectional study targeting medical students in seven Japanese medical schools, residents in four university hospitals, and doctors in one university hospital. A survey was conducted from 2016 to 2017 using the Japanese version of the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes Toward Interprofessional Collaboration (JeffSATIC-J), which evaluated “working relationship” and “accountability”. To clarify the related factors and educational intervention associated with the JeffSATIC-J score, analysis of variance and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient for the length of teamwork or clinical courses were analyzed. Summary of Results A total of 2409 (response rate 79.8%) responses were analyzed. The average scores of first-, fourth- and sixth-year medical students, residents, and doctors were 110.3, 105.9, 105.6, 101.4, and 107.2, respectively. Learning year, institution, and gender were significant variables of students’ “working relationship” and “accountability” scores. First-year students’ scores were the highest, and female scores were significantly higher than those of males. As for educational intervention, scores of sixth-year students, who finished all clinical courses, were significantly correlated with the length of clinical clerkship, except females’ “working relationship” scores. For residents’ score, institution and gender were not significant variables for “working relationship” scores. Female “accountability” scores were significantly higher than those of males. Gender was not a significant variable for doctors’ scores. Discussion and Conclusion Japanese medical students had lower attitudes towards collaboration than previously reported for medical students in the United States. Sixth-year students’ scores were lower than those of first-year students and equivalent to those of residents. Clinical practice with multiple professions in long-term clinical clerkship, which was classified as transprofessional education, might be the most effective intervention for improving students’ attitudes towards collaboration. The study has been published in the International Journal of Medical Education (2022; 13:274-286). Take Home Messages Long-term clinical clerkship in the community at higher grades is important in improving medical students' attitudes toward team collaboration.

In this chapter, I will examine whether or not medical professionalism should take the same form worldwide. Japan has its own culture and ethos, both of which have significance in the clinical setting. However, if a Japanese doctor graduated from a Japanese medical school which is not accredited by international (Western) standards, then the doctor will not be able to work in the USA after 2023. Japanese medical schools are concerned about international standards because “Professionalism” is one of key part of accreditation. However, the question remains: should medical professionalism be measured in a universal and internationally standardized way? How would, for example, Japanese medical schools teach their medical students about the concept of autonomy, for which so many interpretations are possible? (see Chap. 3).Further, I will explain the difficulties of teaching medical professionalism to medical students and young residents. In this chapter, I present two actual cases to illustrate these points. I bring to this discussion a case of medical professionalism using the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident as an example. Specifically, I question whether physicians are obliged to stay in an area highly contaminated with nuclear radiation. I also discuss whether one’s obligation as a physician might require them to provide care during disasters. This is a different type of discussion about medical professionalism from those focused around clinical ethics.Finally, I examine the happiness of the healthcare professional, a subject that has received little attention in the literature thus far in any country. I argue that the happiness of the healthcare professional should also be an important part of medical professionalism.

The present study aimed to investigate current sexuality education in Japanese medical schools and the impact of position title in the Japanese Society for Sexual Medicine (JSSM). Questionnaires were mailed to urology departments in all Japanese medical schools. The responses were evaluated according to four factors: the number of lecture components, curriculum hours, degree of satisfaction with the components and degree of satisfaction with the curriculum hours. We also investigated differences in these four factors among three groups: Directors, Council members and non-members of the JSSM. The medians of curriculum hours and the number of the lecture components were 90.0 min and 7.0, respectively. The curriculum hours of the Directors (140.0 min) were significantly longer than those of the non-members (90.0 min; P<0.05). The number of lecture components taught by Directors (9.5) was significantly higher than that of the Council (4.0; P<0.01) and non-members (7.0; P<0.05). More than half of the faculties were not satisfied with the lecture components and curriculum hours. This is the first study on sexuality education in Japanese medical schools. It showed the inadequacy of both curriculum hours and lecture components, and that the position title of department chair affects sexuality education in medical schools.

BackgroundThe study of communication skills of Asian medical students during structured Problem-based Learning (PBL) seminars represented a unique opportunity to assess their critical thinking development. This study reports the first application of the health education technology, content analysis (CA), to a Japanese web-based seminar (webinar).MethodsThe authors assigned twelve randomly selected medical students from two universities and two clinical instructors to two virtual classrooms for four PBL structured tutoring sessions that were audio-video captured for CA. Both of the instructors were US-trained physicians. This analysis consisted of coding the students’ verbal comments into seven types, ranging from trivial to advanced knowledge integration comments that served as a proxy for clinical thinking.ResultsThe most basic level of verbal simple responses accounted for a majority (85%) of the total students’ verbal comments. Only 15% of the students’ comments represented more advanced types of critical thinking. The male students responded more than the female students; male students attending University 2 responded more than male students from University 1. The total mean students’ verbal response time for the four sessions with the male instructor was 6.9%; total mean students’ verbal response time for the four sessions with the female instructor was 19% (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThis report is the first to describe the application of CA to a multi-university real time audio and video PBL medical student clinical training webinar in two Japanese medical schools. These results are preliminary, mostly limited by a small sample size (n = 12) and limited time frame (four sessions). CA technology has the potential to improve clinical thinking for medical students. This report may stimulate improvements for implementation.

BackgroundMost Japanese medical schools likely continue to rely on peer physical examination (PPE) as a tool to for teaching physical examination skills to students. However, the attitudes of medical students in Japan toward PPEs have not be identified. Therefore, we evaluated students’ attitudes toward PPE in a Japanese medical school as a preparation for developing a PPE policy tailored to the context of Japanese culture.MethodsWe conducted a mixed-methods study with an explanatory sequential approach, in which qualitative data were used to interpret the quantitative findings. Surveys and interviews were conducted with medical students and junior residents at a Japanese university. A total of 63 medical students and 50 junior residents responded to the questionnaire. We interviewed 16 participants to reach theoretical saturation and investigated the attitudes of medical students toward PPE and the themes emerging from the interview data, providing detailed descriptions of the quantitative findings.ResultsFemale participants were significantly more likely than male participants to report varying degrees of resistance to being a model patient during PPE (male: 59.7%, female: 87%, p < 0.001). Most of the participants who took on the role of patients that involved undressing were males. The participants expected improvements in issues related to the guarantee of freedom to refuse to be a model patient and measures to protect confidentiality. Approximately 22% of the participants reported that they witnessed incidental findings (including variations within the normal range) in front of other students during PPE.ConclusionsThe findings imply that medical students expect high levels of autonomy and confidentiality when volunteering as model patients during PPE. Thus, developing a PPE policy suitable for Japanese culture may be effective in establishing a student-centered PPE environment.

BackgroundThe effectiveness of peer learning has been recognized and discussed by many scholars, and implemented in the formal curriculums of medical schools internationally. However, there is a general dearth of studies in measuring the objective outcomes in learning.MethodsWe investigated the objective effect of near-peer learning on tutee’s emotions and its equivalence within the formal curriculum of a clinical reasoning Problem Based Learning session in a Japanese medical school. Fourth-year medical students were assigned to the group tutored by 6th-year students or by faculties. The positive activating emotion, positive deactivating emotion, negative activating emotion, negative deactivating emotion, Neutral emotion were measured using the Japanese version of the Medical Emotion Scale (J-MES), and self-efficacy scores were also assessed. We calculated the mean differences of these variables between the faculty and the peer tutor groups and were statistically analyzed the equivalence of these scores. The equivalence margin was defined as a score of 0.4 for J-MES and 10.0 for the self-efficacy score, respectively.ResultsOf the 143 eligible participant students, 90 were allocated to the peer tutor group and 53 were allocated to the faculty group. There was no significant difference between the groups. The 95% confidence interval of the mean score difference for positive activating emotions (–0.22 to 0.15), positive deactivating emotions (–0.35 to 0.18), negative activating emotions (–0.20 to 0.22), negative deactivating emotions (–0.20 to 0.23), and self-efficacy (–6.83 to 5.04) were withing the predetermined equivalence margins for emotion scores, meaning that equivalence was confirmed for these variables.ConclusionsEmotional outcomes were equivalent between near-peer PBL sessions and faculty-led sessions. This comparative measurement of the emotional outcomes in near-peer learning contributes to understanding PBL in the field of medical education.

A questionnaire survey was used to determine the status of nutrition education in Japanese medical schools in 2009. A similar survey was conducted in 2004, at which time nutritional education was determined to be inadequate in Japanese medical schools. The current questionnaire was sent to the directors of Centers for Medical Education of 80 medical schools, who represented all medical schools in Japan. Sixty-seven medical schools (83.8%) responded, of which 25 schools (37.3%) offered dedicated nutrition courses and 36 schools (53.7%) did not offer dedicated nutrition courses but offered something related to nutrition in other courses; six schools (9.0%) did not offer any nutrition education. Overall, 61 schools (91.0%) offered at least some nutritional topics in their undergraduate education. Nevertheless, only 11 schools (16.4%) seem to dedicate more than 5 hours to substantial nutrition education as judged by their syllabi. Although the mean length of the course was 11 hours, substantial nutrition education accounted for only 4.2 hours. Of the 25 medical schools that offered dedicated nutrition courses, seven schools offered the nutrition course as a stand-alone course and 18 schools offered it as an integrated course. In conclusion, the status of nutrition education in Japan has improved slightly but is still inadequate.

This study aims to investigate the gender difference of ophthalmologists among academic positions in Japanese medical schools. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted. We performed a comprehensive survey assessing the gender distribution of faculty members in the departments of ophthalmology at Japanese medical schools. During the period of November 1 to 15, 2023, data were gathered from the websites of all ophthalmology departments and their affiliated hospitals. Faculty gender was determined primarily through analysis of first names and photographs when available. The gender, academic position, and employment status (full-time or part-time) of each faculty member were recorded. The study encompassed 1574 faculty members in 81 ophthalmology departments, including 453 (28.8%) females and 1121 (71.2%) males. The proportion of females varied across different academic positions, with 9.9% among professors, 21.9% among associate professors, 30.5% among lecturers, and 36.7% among research associates. There was a significant difference in the distribution of academic ranks among genders (P <.001). The odds of becoming professors were 4.41 times higher for males than for females (P <.001). The percentage of full-time and part-time positions did not differ significantly between genders overall; however, a higher percentage of female research associates worked part-time (53.2%) compared to full-time (35.4%; P = .0169). When comparing departments by the gender of their chair professors, we found that the percentage of female faculty was higher in departments with female chairs than in those with male chairs: 23.1% versus 7.7% among professors and 45.5% versus 20.2% among associate professors, respectively. The academic ranks within ophthalmology departments in Japanese medical schools are predominantly occupied by males, particularly in senior positions.