The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between body composition and athletic performance of long distance relay runners in a four week weight reduction program. Six male collegiate runners, aged 19.0 ± 0.9 years, participated in this study. Body water content and fat free mass (FFM) were measured by bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy.The weight loss by 4.1% of the initial body weight consisted of decreases in FFM and fat mass (54% and 46% respectively). Percentage of body fat did not change significantly by the end of the fourth week. The total body water (TBW) loss comprised of intracellular water (ICW) and extracellular water (ECW) at the end of the fourth week, and TBW loss and FFM loss were nearly the same values. Isokinetic muscular strength of right thigh, maximal oxygen intake (VO₂max) and total treadmill running time (maximal workout time) measured did not show any significant change. These results indicate (1) half of the weight loss consisted of decrease in FFM, (2) TBW loss was due to the reduction of ICW and ECW, (3) the content of FFM loss was considered to be body water, and (4) there was no impact on muscular strength of right thigh, VO₂max or maximal workout time.

1)We applied a spiral curriculum devised by Harden to plan a sequential curriculum in outcome–based medical education at the Chiba University School of Medicine.
2)To plan a sequential curriculum, Miller's pyramid was applied to create a model for developing the competencies of physicians.
3)Competence levels based on the developmental model were used to plan learning objectives for each unit, and students and teachers were encouraged to understand the relevance of each lesson to competencies.

Surveys on the snail intermediate hosts were undertaken in the paddy fields in Yatomi-cho, Aichi Prefecture, once a year over a 5-year period (1983-1987).
And the cercariae of two different avian schistosomes were detected from snails in paddy fields.
The cercariae from Polyplis haemisphaerula were identified as species beloning to the genus Gigantobilharzia and the cercariae from austropeplea ollula as species belonging to the genus Trichobilharzia.
It was concluded that the paddy field dermatitis occurring in Yatomi-cho was proved to be caused by the invasion of these cercariae.

Physical examination is an important skill that is indispensable for physicians’ practice, but clinical practice tends to be a case dependent experience. In addition, there is not enough opportunity to systematically train the physical examination skills. Hypothesis is driven according to the clinical context. Our objective is to improve hypothesis-driven physical examination skills. Fifth and sixth grade medical students launched an interest group “General Medicine Interest Group” at Chiba University. Flipped classroom and peer teaching were adopted to the General Medicine Interest Group. The educational approach of incorporating flipped classroom and peer-assisted learning was considered useful for improving students’ motivation and physical examination skills. We will report on the activities and their effectiveness.

In the treatment of diabetes, insulin therapy is becoming increasingly important. However, it is reported that insulin initiation is often delayed due to psychological resistance in patients and physician’s concerns about patient education. One of the reasons for this problem is medical doctors’ inadequate understanding of insulin self-injection and patients’ perspectives. Therefore, we introduced a new strategy for learning this more effectively. We set student doctors as target learners. The learning strategy consists of experiential learning through the use of insulin injection model, in-patient interviews, and small group learning. Our new practice seems to be useful to understand the perception gap between medical professionals and patients.

This paper describes the concepts of assessment theory which are necessary to implement the most desirable assessments, with a particular focus on validity and utility. Validity, classically defined as a trinity of content, criterion-related, and construct, is now encompassed by construct validity. By distinguishing between validity and validation, the process of reinforcing validity through argument-based validation is proposed. Furthermore, we refer to the concept of utility, which takes into account practicality (acceptability and cost) and educational impact, in order to make the assessment practice sustainable. Finally, we will address how learner assessment relates to program evaluation.

Introduction: During their clinical clerkship (CC), Japanese medical students’ literature searching skills were ambiguous. We conducted a questionnaire survey on students’ search processes to determine whether this skill improved after a lecture on conducting searches.　Method: This study was conducted from May to December 2019. The questionnaire survey was followed by a 90-minute lecture combining information and relevant activities. The questionnaire included students’ self-evaluation of their literature searching abilities, and references from their medical summaries and reports were compared to those of students from a 2018 group who did not attend the lecture.　Results: Sixty-seven students participated in the questionnaire survey and lecture. Questionnaire results demonstrated that the most frequently used search tool was PubMed. Regularly used types of literature were Japanese textbooks medical guidelines issued by the Japanese Medical Society, and English-language medical journal articles. The two major difficulties in conducting searches were the inability to critically appraise the literature and inadequate English reading skills.　The students’ satisfaction level regarding the lecture was found to be acceptable. After attending the lecture, students’ self-evaluation of their literature searching abilities improved significantly. Furthermore, compared to the 2018 group, references in students’ summaries and reports increased. Additionally, the number of English-language medical journal articles cited in reports was higher among students in the 2019 group than the 2018 group.　Conclusions: Although CC students can conduct literature searches, they struggle with critical appraisal and English-language comprehension. Interventions such as lectures may effectively improve their searching skills during CC.

In the 2022 Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education in Japan, "Chapter 3, Educational strategies and assessment" section II. "Learner Assessment," consists of three parts : II-1. Approaches to learner assessment, II-2. Assessment methods, and II-3. Questions about learner assessment. Based on the idea that "the way assessment is done varies from institution to institution," the answer to the "Question" is deliberately not included. We hope that readers will refer to this chapter when planning learning assessments in curriculum development while considering the curriculum's background and context.