Few studies have examined medical students' perceptions of community medicine and specialty choice through comparison between students of quotas related to community medicine and regular admission. We conducted a questionnaire survey on students' desire for future work places, types of health facility/hospital, medical specialization, and community medicine involving year 1 to year 5 students in Gifu University School of Medicine (n=335, selective admission: regular admission=81:254) . This study demonstrated that the selected students for community medicine (years 1 to 5) preferred to work at a core/small-sized hospital in a rural area and tended to choose the specialties that were characterized by primary care, such as pediatrics. Moreover, they had positive perceptions of community medicine. Further follow-up study needs to be undertaken in order to explore how students are actually engaging in community medicine after graduation.

Introduction: The best method of analyzing the overall ability of medical students is currently not known. However, we comprehensively analyzed summative assessments in order to characterize the capabilities of medical students.Method: In 2014, 97 medical graduates, who were attending a national medical school, were asked to complete a computer-based test, a pre-clinical clerkship objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), a post-clinical clerkship OSCE, clinical clerkship assessment sheets, repetition of the same grade and the national examination for medical practitioners. Results were analyzed using multivariate analysis.Results: In the principal component analysis, it was suggested that the first component indicates comprehensive academic achievement and the second component indicates engagement in clinical training. In the cluster analysis, clusters were classified by the values of the first and second components. In this analysis, the number of students who failed the national exam and repeated the same grade were significantly greater in each cluster.Discussion: This study demonstrates that the comprehensive analysis of summative assessments could be used to clarify the capabilities of medical students.

 The increase of female physicians and its undeveloped supporting system can be one of the causes of physicians' shortage. Although physicians' marriage/family perceptions and their influences on career choices have been extensively studied, those of medical students are not fully understood. An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted involving male/female medical students in years 2 and 5 at Gifu University School of Medicine. The results showed that many male/female students hoped to get married, have children, and continue to work in the future, but different perceptions were demonstrated between the sexes with regards to the partners' occupation, working style, and influences of family/marriage perceptions on students' specialty choice. The results suggest the presence of sex-related differences in perceptions among medical students. The survey indicates the necessity of early undergraduate education for a better mutual understanding of gender issues.

The Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities stipulates that medical training institutions need to offer the provision of Reasonable Accommodation to students with developmental disorders and/or related characteristics.　Reasonable Accommodation is the consideration to guarantee the rights of students with developmental disorders; thus, educational institutions have an obligation to provide this Reasonable Accommodation.　In this paper, we outlined specific support for students with developmental disabilities and related characteristics in medical training institutions from the aspects of “enrollment,” “university education,” and “employment.”　Essential ways to support students with developmental disorders and related characteristics include the presentation of clear criteria, mutual cooperation, and collaboration between faculty members and administrative staff, as well as understanding the basics of how to interact with such students.

In a workshop for health care education teachers, participants are expected to understand new teaching approaches, acquire them, and prepare themselves for tomorrow’s education. While role play is a well-known method for learning in the clinical classroom, this paper reported on an innovative learning strategy that utilizes skits. Firstly, participants generated ideas and set goals to demonstrate how they would change their teaching from tomorrow. Secondly, they arranged the setting for skits, made scenarios based on their own goals, decided the cast from among the group members, and performed the skits in front of the other participants. Thirdly, they did a peer review and debriefing of their skits. This innovative approach may accelerate participants’ ability to set practical goals that should change their future teaching behaviors.

Purpose: Quantitative elastography methods, such as ultrasound two-dimensional shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), are used to diagnose liver fibrosis. The present study compared liver stiffness determined by 2D-SWE and MRE within individuals and analyzed the degree of agreement between the two techniques. Methods: In total, 888 patients who underwent 2D-SWE and MRE were analyzed. Bland-Altman analysis was performed after both types of measurements were log-transformed to a normal distribution and converted to a common set of units using linear regression analysis for differing scales. The expected limit of agreement (LoA) was defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of 2D-SWE and MRE precision. The percentage difference was expressed as (2D-SWEMRE)/ mean of the two methods×100. Results: A Bland-Altman plot showed that the bias and upper and lower LoAs (ULoA and LLoA) were 0.0002 (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.0057 to 0.0061), 0.1747 (95% CI, 0.1646 to 0.1847), and -0.1743 (95% CI, -0.1843 to -0.1642), respectively. In terms of percentage difference, the mean, ULoA, and LLoA were -0.5944%, 19.8950%, and -21.0838%, respectively. The calculated expected LoA was 17.1178% (95% CI, 16.6353% to 17.6002%), and 789 of 888 patients (88.9%) had a percentage difference within the expected LoA. The intraclass correlation coefficient of the two methods indicated an almost perfect correlation (0.8231; 95% CI, 0.8006 to 0.8432; P<0.001). Conclusion Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated that 2D-SWE and MRE were interchangeable within a clinically acceptable range.

Over the past 20 years, the Center for Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University has been working on training medical educators across the country. The Center offers a wide variety of programs to meet participants’ various needs and levels, targeting medical educators and administrative staff in various fields such as dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. This paper introduces the “Medical Education Starter Kit,” “Fellowship Program,” and “Master’s Course of Health Professions Education” among the programs. The objectives, target participants, and features of each program are outlined, including future prospects.