Mission

Over the past few decades, the life sciences have made significant progress and now physicians are required to accumulate a great deal of medical knowledge and to approach new medical fields. Today’s health and social care needs to respond to the diverse needs of patients and develop the outstanding human resources in life sciences, social welfare and international aid. We develop and maintain excellent learning program and enhance our educational environment to achieve global standards.

Curriculum is based on ‘Model Core Curriculum’ that includes the adoption of cutting-edge research in life sciences and also provides the opportunity to raise awareness of ethical issues and develop the general knowledge. The lectures focused on the integration of basic and clinical sciences develop further understanding of essential medicine. Class sizes are kept small to facilitate self-motivated and inquiry-based learning to acquire problem solving skills and group discussion to improve communication skills. Clerkship on clinical training puts more focus on interactive learning than on observational learning.

Global competencies for clinical practice

  1. Develop ethical awareness in health care.
  2. Acquire essential knowledge and comprehension of diseases
  3. Learn basic clinical skills that include communication and diagnose
  4. Obtain understanding over health literacy and disease prevention

Keeping pace with and Contribute to Medical Progress

  1. Build problem solving skills through self-directed learning
  2. Learning skills of communication and information gathering

Admission Policy

In recent years, research in the life sciences has advanced greatly, the quantity of medical knowledge has reached massive levels, and novel medicine-related academic fields have emerged. On the other hand, social demands for medicine and health care have become more diverse, and competent experts are needed in many fields, including not only medicine and health care but also life sciences, welfare, and international health care. In this context, based on the University's philosophy, the School of Medicine seeks individuals with the necessary foundation to acquire the knowledge, academic abilities, and technical skills required to serve as medical professionals and who will study medicine in a passionate and dedicated manner. Specifically, we seek individuals as indicated below.

Desired Student

1. Those who have sufficient basic academic abilities in a broad variety of fields and the practical skills that are necessary to learn medicine.
2. Those who have sufficient communication skills and who can work in harmony with and be sympathetic to others.
3. Those who have the strong curiosity and discipline necessary to meet challenges in an independent manner.
4. Those who have a great interest in providing health care in local communities, and especially to contribute to improving health care in Shiga Prefecture.
5. Those who will persevere to contribute to medical and health care research throughout their lives.

Student Selection

To select individuals in accordance with the characteristics listed above, we conduct the General Admission Exam, which offers special admission for health care in Shiga; the Recommendation-based Admission Exam, which provides special admission for Shiga Prefecture residents; and the Transfer Admission Exam of the 2nd Year, which provides special admission for residents of Shiga and neighboring prefectures.
We seek students who will work to contribute passionately to health care in Shiga through the above special admissions.

1. General Admission Exam (First Term)
Student selection will be made based on the combined results of the General Admission Exam which follows: the Common Test for University Admissions, the Individual Academic Performance Test, the interview, group task work, and the achievement report from their high school. The Common Test for University Admissions assesses fundamental academic ability while the Individual Academic Test evaluates the students' ability to apply knowledge to actual problems, their breadth and depth of understanding of the natural sciences, reading comprehension, and language skills through test subjects in mathematics, science, and foreign language ability (English). Finally, the interview, group task work and the achievement report assess passion, the ability to work in harmony with others, ethical standards and communication skills.

2. Recommendation-based Admission Exam
Student selection will be made based on the combined results of the recommendation letter from the principal of their high school, the achievement report from high school, the application statement, the Common Test for University Admissions, the essay , and the interview . The Common Test for University Admissions assesses the students' fundamental academic performance; the essay evaluates students' understanding, thinking, and expressive abilities; and the submitted documents (e.g., the application statement) and interview assess passion for health care in the local community, the ability to work in harmony with others, to express themselves, to exert leadership, ethical standards and communication skills.

3. Transfer Admission Exam of the 2nd Year
Students who have passed the 1st exam (academic ability test) can progress to the 2nd exam (the essay and interview). Selection will be made based on the results of the 1st and 2nd exams. The individual Academic Test includes the general test covering biology, physics, chemistry, and statistics, as well as foreign language ability (English). The level of the general test will be equivalent to that of a student who has completed a typical university's general education course. The essay and interview assess the students' motivation to learn, ethical standards, communication skills, and their abilities regarding logical thinking, problem solving, self-expression, leadership, and the ability to work in harmony with others.

Curriculum Policy

  1. The School aims to train highly educated individuals from international backgrounds who have the robust ethical and social judgment that is required to become a medical professional. It accomplishes this goal by teaching liberal arts, ethics in medicine, and medical English over the course of the 6-year integrated educational curriculum. In addition, lectures and training that directly relate to medicine and health care begin promptly after students’ admission to stimulate their motivation to learn medicine.
  2. Basic medical subjects are taught not only in lectures but also in small-group exercises. The Clinical Medicine subject helps students understand diseases on a systematic level by providing lectures organized by organ system.
  3. The School trains the students' abilities to identify and solve problems, to develop themselves personally, and to conduct clinical reasoning by educating them through small-group active learning settings, including group discussion and individual learning. In addition, it aims to improve their communication skills.
  4. On-campus clinical training provides students with the opportunity to acquire fundamental clinical skills and clinical reasoning abilities by participating in medical treatment as a team member and student doctor, under the supervision of a responsible physician (teacher). Furthermore, off-campus clinical training at hospitals located in nearby neighborhoods enhances students' understanding of health care in the local community, welfare, and care-giving in actual situations.
  5. By assigning students to a laboratory where they define a research task(s) that they perform by themselves (a laboratory for voluntary training), the School helps students to experience actual medical research and thus fosters their passion for and abilities to understand research.
  6. Through lectures and practice in subjects including the Introduction to Medicine, Advanced Medicine, Public Health, and Social Medicine, the School helps students deepen their understanding of roles and challenges in social medicine, which is necessary for improving areas of public health such as domestic and international health care systems.

Diploma Policy

To graduate from the School, students shall meet the following requirements:

  1. Acquire a rich sense of humanity, a firm ethical sense, and the ability to act as a medical professional.
  2. Have a full understanding of continuously developing basic medicine, behavioral sciences, social medicine, and clinical medicine, and the ability to apply this knowledge to actual medical treatment and research.
  3. Have excellent fundamental clinical skills and clinical reasoning ability.
  4. Have sufficient communication skills and ability to work cooperatively with others, establish good relationships with patients and medical staff, and collaborate with individuals of different occupations.
  5. Have the ability and attitude necessary to learn continuously in a self-motivated manner, and be able to implement this knowledge practically.
  6. Have an adequate understanding of the demands of community medicine, including welfare and caregiving, and the ability to meet the needs of the local community.
  7. Have basic research skills, an interest in research, and the ability to contribute to international society through medical research.
  8. Have knowledge about local and international health care and medical systems and play a role in their implementation.