1) Medical students and students of the teacher-training course at Shinshu University were compared regarding their knowledge and understanding of heredity and genetics.
2) Medical students' were better able to recognize terms related to genetics than were students of the teacher-training course, although medical students'understanding was not always correct.In both groups understanding was not related to whether the student had studied biology in high school.
3) A standardized education system for clinical genetics for medical students is urgently needed in Japan.