Japan Accreditation Research Articles

An attempt toward outcome-based education in medical pharmacology

The Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education is the organization to evaluate medical education programs at each university based on the World Federation for Medical Education Global Standards for Quality Improvement. The practice of outcome-based education is one of the most important points in the evaluation. Each university is required to clarify learning outcomes, which are the qualities and abilities that students should acquire at the time of graduation, and the curriculums and the framework of evaluations to achieve the learning outcomes. With the publicization of common achievement tests for medical students prior to clinical clerkship, medical students can perform medical treatments during clinical clerkship except for the issuance of prescriptions. However, to properly issue prescriptions as a resident soon after passing the national examination for medical practitioners, medical students should acquire the qualities and abilities not only to understand the pathophysiology of disease and the pharmacological actions of therapeutic drugs but also comprehensively to grasp the relationships between the patient, family, and society. Therefore, pharmacology is inevitably involved in many learning outcomes as a hub in the horizontal integration of basic medicine and the vertical integration of basic medicine, behavioral science, social medicine, and clinical medicine. In this paper, I look at pharmacology education at the Mie University School of Medicine from the perspective of outcome-based education and consider the role that pharmacology should play in the evaluation of medical education programs.

Establishment and Development of Medical Education Accreditation by the Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education, JACME

Establishment and Development of Medical Education Accreditation by the Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education, JACME

Ideal Pharmaceutical Education Viewed from Quality Assurance on Third-party Accreditation

The first-phase third-party accreditation conducted by the Japan Accreditation Board for Pharmaceutical Education between FY 2013 and 2019 revealed various issues regarding current pharmacy education programs. In addition, the report of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Study Group on the Training and Quality Improvement of Pharmacists, which was published in 2021, identified a broad range of issues in pharmaceutical education related to pharmacist training and quality improvement. Many of these issues are concerned with university curricula; thus, in order to ensure and enhance the quality of pharmaceutical education and develop pharmaceutical human resources that society demands, it is extremely important for each university to improve its curricula. Since revision of the model core curriculum for pharmaceutical education is currently underway, in this symposium, we held a discussion to identify points that need to be improved regarding the current model core curriculum to ensure and enhance the quality of pharmaceutical education in light of the above-mentioned issues, and incorporate the corresponding measures into the basic policy for revision of the model core curriculum.

New Attempt of Practice in Pharmacology - Joint Practice with Basic Medical Departments in Tokushima University-

The Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education has strengthened to promote horizontal and vertical integration of medical education, assuring the quality of medical education in Japan from an international standpoint. Pharmacology plays an important role as a central hub to connect basic medical education with clinical medical education. As part of promoting horizontal integration of medical education, Tokushima University has started a joint practice with four basic medical departments with Biochemistry, Physiology, Cell Biology, and Pharmacology for 2nd grade medical students in 2019. Each department is in charge of 2 or 3 items of practice, and total 10 of items are performed for 2 weeks in integrated practice every year. This joint practice has become an official subject in 2022. In this symposium, we would like to introduce our experiences of the unique practice based on advantage and limitation.

A Comparative Exploration of Quality Assurance Results by the Third-Party Pharmaceutical Education Evaluation in Japan

Background: The Standards for the Establishment of Universities in Japan were revised; subsequently, the number of schools or universities of pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences increased from 46 in 2002 to 74 in 2016.The pharmacy education programme was also changed from four to six years, which was implemented in 2006. In this study, we provide the comparative results of the first cycle of the third-party accrediting organization, the Japan Accreditation Board for Pharmaceutical Education (JABPE); Methods: The results of the first cycle of all universities or schools of pharmacy assessed by the JABPE from JABPE website were retrieved, and we collated and compared the results based on the 13 areas of the assessment standards; Results: In “improvements”, the number of public universities or schools was less than that of private universities or schools, and the number of old private universities or schools was also less than the number of new private universities or schools in all assessment areas. Conclusions: These results suggest that new universities or schools established since 2003 have not yet established their own quality assurance mechanism within the institutions. We need to review the Japanese pharmacy education system or the assessment criteria for it to bring about essential change.

Investigation of the Current Situation of Medical Education in Japan Based on the Results of Accreditation Based on Global Standards

The Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) is conducting an evaluation of medical education programs in Japan. A total of 27 institutions were evaluated by JACME. However, only the reports of each institution are available, without any summarized data. This study investigated the current situation of Japanese medical education programs, including their advantages and disadvantages. A total of 27 reports were summarized. Most reports showed that area 3 (Assessment of Students) and area 7 (Program Evaluation) were the weakest points, since many institutions partly fulfilled the standards of these areas. The same applies to some sub-areas of area 2 (Educational Programme) and area 6 (Educational Resources). In contrast, almost all institutions fulfilled both standards in area 8 (Governance and Administration). As a limitation, this study is based on the results of reports made by JACME, which only describe the results of sub-areas and not those of each standard. More detailed information is needed to investigate the aspects of Japanese medical education.

Historical background of pharmacology education in medical school in Japan

Medicine is the science and practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of a various kind of mental and physical disorders. About 150 year ago, Japan was opened to an influx of foreigners and foreign influence that went far beyond anything the Japanese had imagined. Meiji government decided to adopt German medicine in 1869. Even after that time, Japanese educational system appears to be influenced by western countries, especially United States. This is symbolized by JACME (Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education), aiming to strengthen and advance medical education in Japan from an international standpoint. This movement was partly because ECFMG (Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) that issues a certificate for post-graduate clinical training in US to graduates of non-US medical schools, made an announcement that only graduates from medical schools accredited based on the global standards would be eligible for taking the ECFMG examination after 2023. Knowing our own place, by combining basic and clinical point of views, it is now time for us to try to make every effort to review our own pharmacological education system in Japan.

Skills for employability: Identification of the Soft Skills required in engineering education

In a context of increased competition on the job market, soft skills have become as important as the technical skills for employability of Moroccan engineers. Reactive and innovative engineering schools orient their learning process towards the job market requirements. This study aims at examining the soft skills required by accreditation bodies in some developing countries, namely ABET (The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), ENAEE (European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education), ABEEK (Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea), JABEE (The Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) et EA (Engineers Australia). These skills are subsequently correlated with the Syllabus of the CDIO initiative founded by MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) In the United States. This syllabus represents a model of engineering program. It has been developed in collaboration with the industry, the government and the university community. In this study we highlight a set of soft skills which we compared with those developed in Moroccan engineering education programs in order to detect their shortcomings and key success factors.

Low-dose Computed Tomography Screening in Japan

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in both male and female individuals in Japan. The effect of screening using chest radiography is assumed to be limited. In Japan, screening using low-dose computed tomography (CT) was initiated in 1993, and its dissemination has progressed with studies evaluating its efficacy, although it is not officially recommended. In addition to the academic activities of the Japanese Society of CT Screening, certification of physicians and radiologic technologists by the Japan Accreditation Council for CT Screening has been progressing. Currently, several hundred thousand low-dose CT screenings are performed annually in Japan. In Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, low-dose CT screening among employees and in communities started in 2001, and it was estimated that 40% of 50- to 69-year-old citizens had undergone screening at least once by March 2009. The lung cancer mortality rate in citizens in this age group decreased by 24% in 2005 to 2009 compared with the national statistics. Low-dose CT screening targeting the general population may be effective, but it is necessary to consider the target and interval of screening separately from those for the high-risk group. Observational study may play a role in evaluating the efficacy of screening in Japan.

Perspectives of pharmaceutical education--while explaining the related evaluation standards and their viewpoints of "evaluation of pharmaceutical education programs"

In 2013, a program to be implemented by the Japan Accreditation Board for Pharmaceutical Education, Third-party Pharmaceutical Education Evaluation, was initiated. The purposes of this program are: 1) to ensure the quality of education programs; 2) to promote their improvement; and 3) to provide support to actively obtain public understanding and cooperation. In the next 7 years, all pharmaceutical departments and universities will undergo this third-party evaluation. The evaluation standards specify the necessity of establishing indices to evaluate goal achievement levels and to ensure appropriate evaluation based on standards in a number of very important domains of pharmaceutical education. They also emphasize that it is necessary to similarly evaluate overall learning achievement levels in undergraduate degree accreditation. On the other hand, the revision of pharmaceutical education models and core curricula was also proposed and considered in 2013, and preparations for the adoption of revised curricula are currently proceeding. The revised models and core curricula are mainly characterized by setting learning goals within a learning-achievement-based education approach, taking into consideration the 10 qualities to be achieved before graduating. In line with this, in order to nurture pharmacists who appropriately meet social needs by enhancing the quality of their education and training, it is crucial for universities to establish methods to appropriately evaluate learning goal achievement levels as a basis for the realization of these qualities. In this article, appropriate pharmaceutical education curricula, particularly evaluation methods, will be discussed from the above-mentioned perspectives, while explaining the related third-party evaluation standards and their viewpoints.

医学教育の質保証と国際認証評価

An internationalization of practical medicine evoked international migrations of medical professionals. Since basic medical education is different among countries, the internationalization required international quality assurance of medical education. Global trend moves toward establishment of international accreditation system based on international standards. The World Federation for Medical Education proposed Global Standards for Quality Improvement as the international standards. Medical schools in Japan have started to establish program evaluation system. The standards which incorporated international standards have been published. The system for accreditation is being considered. An accreditation body, Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education, is under construction. The accreditation is expected to enhance quality of education in Japan.

Engineering Ethics Education Based Enlighten Theory of Group Education Activity

Japan Accreditation Board of Engineering Education states that the aim of engineering ethics education is the understanding for engineer’ s social responsibility. However, the results of the surveys about engineering ethics showed that this aim was not achieved. This main factor was that most lessons of the engineering ethics were based on the top-down method. Therefore, it was hard for students to understand this intended aim. In this paper, we designed and performed the lesson based on the enlightened theory of group education. Students produced some products that the residents around the school may use. The student and the resident discussed about the safety use of this product together. When the questionnaire was executed after the lesson, it was confirmed that the student understood for the society’ s responsibility, and was shown that it was effective the proposal lesson recognizes the society’ s responsibility in engineering.

Engineering Design Education for Japanese Tertiary Education

This paper describes the importance of providing engineering students with a basic understanding of the engineering design and proposes an integrated curriculum for engineering design and creativity exercises. The Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE) defined engineering design as “an iterative open-ended process of creativity” , and JABEE inspects teachings for developing student’ s creativity through problem based learning at the program review. Most universities and colleges added exercises of creativity to their curriculum, but do not teach the basics of the engineering design process in their programs. On the contrary, ABET defined engineering design as “the process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs” . Typically, engineering design is the process of developing a new product in a company. The author proposes an effective curriculum for engineering design education. Understanding the principles of the engineering design process and applying this knowledge to the manufacturing process are necessary for engineering students to study engineering design effectively.

Environmental and Recycling Education through a "Special Course for Active Students"

In recent years, new university educational methods are being sought for cultivating abilities in students to solve problems that are directly related to many issues faced by the humans such as the effects on the environment. Such trends can be understood from the statements in the criteria documentations by Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE). In order to materialize such an education, the ability to perform a wide variety of activities such as being able to identify the source of a problem by oneself is in demand. The basis of learning is the learning through the activities of planning and research carried out by the students themselves on whatever they wish to do. With the aim of supporting this concept, the authors created a course named "Special Course for Active Students," and have put it into practice for several years. We encourage the students to propose research topics, which are not from subjects commonly thought but which are practical, appropriate for the present time, closely concerned with them, and which can be solved by their own effort. Here, we report on the efforts on environmental issues and education of recycling made by the authors through the "Special Course for Active Students" developed at Tamagawa University

我が国における工学教育の質保証の現状と将来

The quality of engineering education in our country should be assured by the self-assessment of the institution that conducts education. Recent evaluation and/or accreditation are intended to assist and promote such achievement. The certified evaluation and accreditation for colleges of technology and the audit by the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE) have been carried out on the engineering education. In this article we will discuss the ways of accreditation of both systems and try to consider future for the quality assurance of the engineering education in Japan.

New Directions for the Hokuriku-Shin′etsu Society for Engineering Education : Responding to New Developments in Engineering Education

In this paper, I address the roles and responsibilities of the faculty members involved in the education of human resources in the engineering field at higher education facilities while briefly overviewing the trends in higher education carried out under the educational policy developed along the lines suggested in the recent report by the Central Council for Education. I give examples of actual practices carried out by the Japanese Society for Engineering Education, which leads engineering education and education for engineers in Japan. Moreover, the ideal directions of the Hokuriku-Shin′etsu Society for Engineering Education (more concretely, the integration of the membership system with that of the Japanese Society for Engineering Education and revision of the annual membership fee) are clarified considering the comments from individual members in the Hokuriku Shin′etsu area. Furthermore, the transition of accredited programs of the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education in response to the internationalization of engineering education and the status of education in this area are also presented.

理工系学生のための技術者倫理ハイブリッド教育・「科学と倫理」の実践と成果

The issue of economic globalization and JABEE (Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education) mean that education on engineering ethics has now become increasingly important for science-engineering students who will become the next generation of engineers. This is clearly indicated when engineers are made professionally responsible for various unfortunate accidents that happen during daily life in society. Learning hybrid engineering ethics is an essential part of the education of the humanities and sciences. This paper treats the contents for the subject of “Science and Ethics” drawing on several years of practice and the fruits of studying science and engineering ethics at the faculty of science-engineering in university. This paper can be considered to be a practical strategy to the formation of morality.

技術者倫理教育，その必要性，目的，方法，現状，課題

The importance of engineering ethics education has become widely recognized in the industrialized countries including Japan. This paper examines the background against which engineering ethics education is required, and reviews its objectives, methods, and challenges, as well as its current state. In pointing out important issues associated with the apparent acceptance and quantitative development of ethics education, especially after the establishment of the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education in 1999, the author stresses that the most serious problem is the lack of common understanding on the objectives of engineering ethics education. As a strategy to improve the situation, the so-called “Ethics-across-the-Curriculum” approach is introduced. The author also claims that business/organization ethics which is consistent with engineering ethics should be promoted in Japan.

Current status of engineering education in Japan and the role of JSEE

The economic depression during the last decade of the 20th century caused various drastic changes in the social structure, including employment and educational systems. Japanese universities have devoted much effort to research activity and the development of teaching methodology for engineering education was not a major effort for professors. Decrease of 18 years old population, however, forced universities to change this attitude. University education is no more for only elite but is becoming very popular among young people. Another impact came from the ‘globalization’ of industrial societies such as establishment of WTO and APEC. Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE) was established to cope with both domestic and international problems in 1999, and JABEE was admitted as a full signatory member of the Washington Accord in 2005. The Professional Engineer Law was amended linked with JABEE. The importance of engineering ethics has been recognized with these social structure changes. This paper describes the problems now Japanese engineering education is facing and the role of Japanese Society for Engineering Education (JSEE) in order to reorganize the engineering education in Japan.

Review of Qualification & Certification System for Welding Personnel in Japan

This paper summarizes the certification systems for welders and welding engineers established and implemented by the Japan Welding Engineering Society (JWES). The scheme for the welders and the welding engineers are accredited by the Japan Accreditation Body for Conformity Assessment in 1999. Regarding the qualification system for welding engineer, welding technologist, welding specialist and welding practitioner, the Authorized National Body of Japan which are operated under JWES were established and approved by IIW in 2000 and the transition arrangements from the above certification holder has being implemented from 2001. There are unique Approved Training Body in Nagoya for the qualification system for welding engineer, welding technologist and welding specialist.