The main purpose of the introductory education programs designed for newly-hired employees at Anjo Kosei Hospital is to acquaint them with basic knowledge to live as members of society. In recent years, our training and development committee has been drawing up and implementing some introductory education programs about hospital regulations and philosophy for the new employees. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of the introductory education programs and the role played by our committee in the programs. Those who signed up for the introductory education programs were the subjects of this study. They were included composed of 154, 140, and 150 new coners in 1997, 1998, and 1999, respectively. Questionnaire surveys were conducted on them when they completed the programs. The training and development committee encouraged all of the new mployees, belonging to different occupational categories, to attend to the programs. Great emphasis who placed on education of the basic philosophy in our hospital. The surveys found that the education program about how to receive visitors was valuable to them, but they reduced education time about it clearly decreased their satisfaction level. The education program about the safety of medical treatment poorly contributed to their satisfaction even though the education time was extended. Among the programs, experience-oriented education programs, such as the in-house tour, the training of infection control, and the training of customer support, were accepted by them with enough satisfaction. These results suggested that the intervention to each program by the training and development committee is needed to satisfy the new employees by improving each program from an educational point of view.

　　Serious aggravation of de novo hepatitis B caused by revitalization of the hepatitis B virus in HBs antigen negative, HBs antibody or HBc antibody positive patients has recently been reported. The incidence of de novo hepatitis B infection which occurs in patients undergoing immunosuppression or chemotherapy develops at times into a medical lawsuit. To cope with the situation, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) issued the guideline for the management of hepatitis B infective occurring in patients treated with immunosuppressive therapy or chemotherapy (the revised edition). In our institution, the Chemotherapy Committee discussed our measures against de novo hepatitis B, and determined to carry out the in-hospital examination of the HBc antibody to provide reliable safe and speed medicine.　　During the investigation period, HBc antibody was examined for confirmation of anamnesis of Hepatitis B in patients receiving chemotherapy, immunosuppressive medicine, examination of infectious disease before blood transfusion and examination of viral hepatitis. In our institution, the number of cases which are adapted for the MHLW guideline (the revised edition) was 15 of 218 examples, and as a result HBs antigen negative, HBs antibody or HBc antibody positive patients, who could not be found in the routine screening for HB infection turned out to be not a few.　　Since it was expected that the number of patients undergoing immunosuppression and chemotherapy would continue to increase in the future, the necessity for observance of guideline was suggested to provide relief, safety in medical treatment.

  This research was carried out to review the current state of thinga involving trainees (students and business workers) accepted by Anjo-Kosei Hospital and to clarify the role the Education Center in our hospital is expected to play in supporting trainees. The subjects were medical and non-medical students and business workers who signedup for our internship program and junior and senior high school students who paticipated in the hands-on training program at Anjo-Kosei Hospital between April 2006 and March 2009. A total of about 1,300 students and business workers had experienced the actual hands-on work each year. The number of medical students accepted was 289, 289, and 339 in 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively. Besides, the number of non-medical students also increased from 847 to 1,045 in the period of three years. The business workers accepted came from 15 different types of occupation. It was found that junior and senior high school students were interested in the nursing-care field and this seemed to help them consider seriously their life as students and members of society, leading to the increased number of students who joined our program. In addition, unfortunately, two-fifths of the program were unfavorable for trainees because of poor management. The present research suggested that the Education Center take on a signification role in managing the internship and the hands-on training programs to accelerate the potential of students and business workers.

The aim of this study is to collect the suggestions and recommendations of health care professionals involved in the regional palliative care program (OPTIM-study). A total of 101 multidisciplinary health care professionals who participated in the intervention program were interviewed, and 107 meaningful units were obtained from 89 valid interviews. The responses were categorized into “suggestions regardless of profession” (n=59), including “Participate in a multi-disciplinary conference to expand the network of people”, “Try to understand the situation of others”, “Seek support from others when you cannot solve the problem by yourself”, “Pursue all possibilities before giving up”, and “Do not try too hard”. As suggestions to those engaged in each profession, “Suggestions to community pharmacies” and “Suggestions to care managers” are frequently described. An examination of suggestions by the participants in the regional palliative care program could provide some insights to improve community palliative care.

The purpose of this study was to identify the greatest impact of the regional palliative care program on community health care professionals. Interviews were conducted involving 101 people who became involved in the intervention program implemented in 4 areas across Japan, and 96 valid responses were collected. The following were cited as the greatest impact: [I developed a network of people, and realized the importance of collaboration] (n＝61; “I was able to develop an interpersonal relationship” and “Now I understand the significance of collaboration”), [My knowledge and skills regarding palliative care were improved] (n＝18; “Knowledge and support helped me respond to patients with confidence” and “I have come to think that there is more to palliative care than terminal care”), [I rediscovered my role through a wide variety of experiences] (n＝10), [Both collaboration and palliative knowledge/skills meant a lot to me] (n＝4), [What I experienced in this program will help me play my role] (n＝2), and [Patients and their families became satisfied] (n＝1). The community palliative care program was most effective in facilitating collaboration, and helped participants develop knowledge and skills concerning palliative care.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, there have been few reports about drug compliance, which is an important determinant of effectiveness, in the management of bronchial asthma patients. To clarify drug compliance and its relationship with various aspects of asthma management, a questionnaire survey was performed on asthmatic patients and their pharmacists.
METHODS: This survey was carried out, from October to November in 2001. The subjects were limited to the regular inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) users, and were restricted to patients whose medication had not been changed for at least 6 months before the survey. The questionnaires inquired about asthma status, various factors that have been reported to be associated with drug compliance and asthma management. Patients' pharmacists were asked about prescribed medications and drug compliance based on the pharmaceutical records.
RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 610 patients. ICS compliance was not lower than that of anti-allergic drug but lower than that of oral sustained-released theophylline (OSRT) . Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between ICS and OSRT compliance.
CONCLUSION: These results might suggest that OSRT could improve patient's compliance to drug therapy through its bronchodilatory effect, thus resulting in better compliance to ICS. If this were the case, OSRT would play an important role in asthma management.

OBJECTIVE: We wanted to evaluate the performance of prospective electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated axial scans for assessing coronary stents as compared with retrospective ECG-gated helical scans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: As for a vascular model of the coronary artery, a tube of approximately 2.5-mm inner diameter was adopted and as for stents, three (Bx-Velocity, Express2, and Micro Driver) different kinds of stents were inserted into the tube. Both patent and stenotic models of coronary artery were made by instillating different attenuation (396 vs. 79 Hounsfield unit [HU]) of contrast medium within the tube in tube model. The models were scanned with two types of scan methods with a simulated ECG of 60 beats per minute and using display field of views (FOVs) of 9 and 18 cm. We evaluated the in-stent stenosis visually, and we measured the attenuation values and the diameter of the patent stent lumen. RESULTS: The visualization of the stent lumen of the vascular models was improved with using the prospective ECG-gated axial scans and a 9-cm FOV. The inner diameters of the vascular models were underestimated with mean measurement errors of -1.10 to -1.36 mm. The measurement errors were smaller with using the prospective ECG-gated axial scans (Bx-Velocity and Express2, p < 0.0001; Micro Driver, p = 0.0004) and a 9-cm FOV (all stents: p < 0.0001), as compared with the other conditions, respectively. The luminal attenuation value was overestimated in each condition. For the luminal attenuation measurement, the use of prospective ECG-gated axial scans provided less measurement error compared with the retrospective ECG-gated helical scans (all stents: p < 0.0001), and the use of a 9-cm FOV tended to decrease the measurement error. CONCLUSION: The visualization of coronary stents is improved by the use of prospective ECG-gated axial scans and using a small FOV with reduced blooming artifacts and increased spatial resolution.
Contrast Media ; *Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Stenosis ; Coronary Vessels ; Electrocardiography/*methods ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods ; *Models, Cardiovascular ; Observer Variation ; Phantoms, Imaging ; Radiographic Image Enhancement/methods ; *Stents ; Tomography, Spiral Computed/*methods

Background/Aims: Three-dimensional (3D) flexible endoscopy, a new imaging modality that provides a stereoscopic view, can facilitate endoscopic hand suturing (EHS), a novel intraluminal suturing technique. This ex-vivo pilot study evaluated the usefulness of 3D endoscopy in EHS. Methods: Four endoscopists (two certified, two non-certified) performed EHS in six sessions on a soft resin pad. Each session involved five stitches, under alternating 3D and two-dimensional (2D) conditions. Suturing time (sec/session), changes in suturing time, and accuracy of suturing were compared between 2D and 3D conditions. Results: The mean suturing time was shorter in 3D than in 2D (9.8±3.4 min/session vs. 11.2±5.1 min/session) conditions and EHS was completed faster in 3D conditions, particularly by non-certified endoscopists. The suturing speed increased as the 3D sessions progressed. Error rates (failure to grasp the needle, failure to thread the needle, and puncture retrial) in the 3D condition were lower than those in the 2D condition, whereas there was no apparent difference in deviation distance. Conclusions 3D endoscopy may contribute to increasing the speed and accuracy of EHS in a short time period. Stereoscopic viewing during 3D endoscopy may help in efficient skill acquisition for EHS, particularly among novice endoscopists.

In the new Model Core Curriculum, the objective stated is to "understand the importance of medical research for the advancement of medicine and medical care, and support innovation in medicine through involvement in academic and research activities, developing one's scientific thinking skills." Importantly, scientific background and researcher training education, such as laboratory assignments, are clearly positioned in the Model Core Curriculum and are available to all students. The curriculum consists of five components : Developing a research mindset, Understanding established theories, Conducting Research, Publishing Research, and Research Ethics. In addition, laboratory experience and practical training in basic medicine were also added to the description. Further policy and financial support for researchers will be necessary to increase the number of basic medical researchers in the future.

Distigmine has reversible and persistent cholinesterase (ChE) antagonism, and is used for the dysuria due to low activity bladders such as the neurogenic bladder dysfunction widely postoperatively, but fatal cases were reported by cholinergic syndrome. Therefore a dose was limited to 5mg only for adaptation of “the dysuria due to hypotonic bladder such as after surgery and the neurogenic bladder dysfunction” in March, 2010. In the current study, we examined a ministerial policy in the package insert revision using Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database (JADER). Using a side effect report registered with JADER from January, 2004 to June, 2016, we calculated Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR) which was the index of the safe signal of the medical supplies adverse event and we compared number of reports and ROR of the cholinergic syndrome by the distigmine in approximately the measure in March, 2010 and evaluated it. The number of reports of the cholinergic syndrome by the distigmine was 138 cases before March 2010 and 65 cases after March 2010. After a measure, the number of reports decreased. The possibility that the package insert revision of the distigmine contributed to a decrease in cholinergic syndrome onset was suggested. Whereas monitoring careful sequentially needs the onset of the cholinergic syndrome in constant frequency to be found.