Objectives : A pharmacotherapeutic system for safe and proper use of warfarin was developed through physician-pharmacist cooperative practice ; its effects on patient adherence to therapeutic regimens and the therapeutic benefit of warfarin were assessed.
Methods : Subjects were 12 outpatients or home-care patients receiving warfarin. Patients' level of understanding of warfarin therapy and time in therapeutic range (TTR) were used as indices of adherence and therapeutic benefit, respectively. Before the physician examination, patients were interviewed by pharmacists using point-of-care testing with the CoaguChek ^®XS to check their prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR). Pharmacists reported status of warfarin administration, any adverse effects, and medication management status to each patient's physician using the medication record or inter-institute information exchange sheet. Patient adherence was assessed before and after the pre-examination interview and changes in TTR were evaluated.
Results : Levels of understanding of warfarin therapy were significantly higher after pharmacists provided medication counseling (immediately before 4.8±1.9 vs 24 weeks after 6.8±2.4 ; P=0.0079, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). TTR significantly improved at 24 weeks after the interview (pre-interview 20.9±29.8% vs post-interview 60.5±30.5%, respectively ; P=0.0024, Wilcoxon signed-rank test).
Conclusion : The results suggest that patients'adherence to warfarin regimens and the therapeutic benefit of warfarin is improved by pharmacists'obtaining information on PT-INR before patients'medical examinations, as well as by utilizing this information to establish a cooperative pharmacotherapeutic system for good TTR management, as supported by a common protocol across pharmacies and medical institutions.

We examined the effects of several problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials on the development of clinical abilities among medical students. In 1988, 2 years before our university implemented the PBL tutorial curriculum, one to three trial tutorials were used for a portion of the students in the 1st through 3rd years to identify a suitable tutorial education system for Japanese students. To examine the effects of these trial tutorials, we sent questionnaires to graduates who had participated in the trial tutorials and to those who had not. We found that graduates who had participated in the trial tutorials were more likely than graduates who had not to report logical thinking capabilities during their undergraduate years and clinical problem-solving abilities at the end of their internship. The results suggest that the use of one or more tutorials is effective in helping students develop logical thinking and problem-solving ability.

Positive self-esteem helps students build and maintain self-efficacies to affect later clinical practice. We examined the outcome of problem-based-learning (PBL) curriculum by evaluating self-efficacy in terms of sustained learning and clinical competencies among medical school graduates.
1) We compared practicing doctors who either had PBL tutorial experience or who had not by a questionnaire survey.
2) The subjects self-evaluated whether they had achieved expected abilities (1) at the end of undergraduate years, (2) during 2-year internship, and (3) at present.
3) Among 1, 502 doctors surveyed (response rate=36.0%), doctors with PBL tutorial experience had higher selfefficacy (odds ratio>2.1) in their clinical abilities than doctors without it, especially during the school years.
4) In the later 2 periods, doctors with PBL experience had higher self-efficacy in communication skills.
5) PBL tutorial foster self-efficacy in clinical abilities, especially in communication skills, during earlier clinical career.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate Japanese physicians' use of dialects related to geographic areas and to elucidate how physicians respond to dialect-using patients.
METHODS: We conducted a web-based open survey, to which 170 anonymous physicians reported. We examined the following 1) whether dialects are used during communication with patients; 2) how to communicate with patients using dialects; and, 3) reasons for having difficulty in communicating with patients who regularly use dialects. Geographical areas were divided into the following 8 areas Hokkaido-Tohoku, Kanto, Koshinetsu-Hokuriku, Tokai, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu-Okinawa.
RESULTS: Of 170 physicians, 61.2% (95% CI: 53.4-68.5%) reported using dialects. These proportions differed by geographic area (F= 8.141; p<0.001) . Physicians practicing in Shikoku and Chugoku used dialects most frequently, while those practicing in Kanto and Hokkaido-Tohoku used dialects least frequently. Many dialect-using physicians thought that physicians should use the same dialect as dialect-using patients. In addition, dialect-using physicians were more likely to think that a physician-related factor was responsible for having difficulty in garnering clinical information.
CONCLUSIONS: Use of dialects by Japanese physicians during communication with patients seems common and may differ by geographic areas. Physicians' use of dialects could be a useful tool for effective clinical communication.

INTRODUCTIONIn this study, we compared the choice of medical specialty and subspecialty interest among problem-based-learning (PBL) graduates and non-PBL graduates.

MATERIALS AND METHODSQuestionnaires were mailed to a total of 1398 female doctors who graduated from Tokyo Women's Medical University (TWMU) between 1989 and 2003. The response rate was over 30%, giving 248 respondents who had undergone a PBL curriculum (PBL+) and 220 subjects who had not (PBL-). Current specialty of the graduates were compared between the PBL+ and PBL-, and also compared with the general Japanese female doctors (Control 1 and 2) of similar age groups. Respondents were analysed in terms of their interests in subspecialty medical care or general medical practise, which includes comprehensive medical care, primary care and basic medicine. Internal medicine doctors working in the university hospitals were compared with those working outside the university hospitals. Internal medicine doctors were also compared with specialists in ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dermatology and psychiatry. Subjects were compared by odds ratio (OR) to examine group difference in the field of interest. OR >2.0 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTSMost doctors in all groups chose internal medicine. More PBL+ internal medicine doctors showed interests in comprehensive medical care and primary care; more PBL+ internal medicine doctors working outside university hospitals showed interest in comprehensive medical care and primary care when compared with those who were working in the university hospitals. The PBL- graduates did not show such a characteristic.

CONCLUSIONSMore PBL+ graduates who chose internal medicine showed interest in holistic medical practices such as primary care and community medicine and more PBL+ specialists showed sustained interest in their respective fields.

Adult ; Career Choice ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Female ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; statistics & numerical data ; Japan ; Problem-Based Learning ; statistics & numerical data

The patients with foreign body sensation in the throat often visit the hospital. However, they have no problem in Western medicine and may be prescribed with anxiolytics. In Kampo medicine, hangekobokuto is effective in most cases for the symptom of qi stagnation. This time, we report that 2 cases, in which hangekobokuto was ineffective, responded to the combination of ryokeijutsukanto and goshuyuto. The combination, which is a mixture of hontonto (Zhouhou fang), bukuryo, jutsu, and taiso, excluding hange, was effective in these 2 cases as running piglet.

Night owl is one of the painful symptoms for cancer patients. Patients with advanced cancer, who tend to bed on bed rest, often sleep during the day and are awake at night, especially. Night owl may make worse the QOL of patients. We controlled night owl and cancer pain of a patient with advanced cancer by treatment with Kampo, Japanese herbal medicine. The case was a 53-year-old female patient with metastatic head and neck cancer. She tended to be a night owl. So, we administered maobushisaishinto and keishikaryukotsuboreito to her, because we regarded her as qi obstruction. During the night, she was able to sleep successfully. After that, administration of hainosankyuto and bukuryoingohangekobokuto reduced the use of rescue medication. Moreover, Kampo was useful for pain control.