We introduced a compulsory medical ethics course for first-year medical students so that they would understand the basis of bioethics thinking and acquire the basic capacity to solve patients' clinical problems. The course consists of 14 school hours, of which 11 were for group discussion of 2 clinical cases and 3 were for whole-class lectures on various ethical issues. Identical, short ethics tests were given on the first and last days of the course. The acceptance level was evaluated on the basis of the score of the second test, reports submitted after group discussions, and class attendance. The scores of the second test correlated with the results of reports of the second clinical case but not with those of the first clinical case. Logistic regression analysis indicated that factors contributing to the acceptance level were the scores of the second test and the attendance rate, which was an independent contributing factor. Furthermore, the scores of the second test, but not of the first test, correlated with the acceptance level. These results indicate that this ethics course is useful for increasing students' thinking about ethical issues.

A medical-ethics course was anonymously evaluated by first-year students over 2 years. The course emphasizes problem-based learning through group discussion of clinical cases and lectures on ethical issues. A tutorial system was added to the course in the second year. Students' evaluations indicated that most students had positive attitudes about the course and that both group discussion and lectures were helpful for achieving the general instructional objectives and specific behavioral objectives of the course. A comparison of the 2 years showed that a majority of evaluated items received higher evaluations from second-year students than from first-year students. We attribute the difference to the livelier discussion with the introduction of the tutorial system and the smaller discussion groups. These results indicate that students consider medical-ethics education to be useful.

Our medical ethics course emphasizes problem-based-learning (PBL) via group discussion of clinical cases. The significanceof instructors' assessments of PBL in ethics education was studied with different assessment tools during thelast 2 years. In the first year, students' behavior and level of functioning in group discussion were assessed on a group basiswith an 8-item instrument. In the second year, students' level of functioning and flexibility in response to differentopinions in group discussion were assessed on an individual basis with a 2-item instrument. Instsments ofstudent's performance in group discussion were positively but weakly correlated with scores of their reports derivedfrom group discussions. Instructors could consistently assess student performance in PBL in terms of behavior and levelof functioning in group discussions. Furthermore, instructors rated flexibility in response to other opinions as an importantfactor in group dynamics, including interaction between students and instructors. These results suggest that instructors'assessments can be used to help evaluate students in a medical ethics course. Instructors' assessments of studentflexibility during PBL can be particularly useful in this regard.

[Objective] Instructional videos on five of the 17 acupuncture techniques (hereinafter referred to as "techniques") were created, and a questionnaire was distributed among acupuncture and moxibustion college teachers to evaluate the utility of the educational materials.[Methods] The sparrow pecking technique (straight and oblique stabbing), gyration, rotation and twisting techniques, as well as vibration stimulation, were performed and the hand was simultaneously imaged with a diagnostic ultrasound device and filmed with a video camera. The questionnaire and a QR code for viewing the videos were sent to training schools by mail. The questionnaire included open-ended and multiple-choice questions regarding the teaching status of the techniques, changes in perception of the techniques after viewing the video, and the value of using the video as a teaching tool.[Results] Responses were received from nine schools (14 teachers). Each technique was taught only once at five of the schools. For all the techniques featured in the videos, not all the respondents answered that the subcutaneous and muscular tissue movements were consistent with their perceptions. Meanwhile, only 35.7% of the respondents had perceptions that were congruent with the video on vibratory stimulation. According to 78.6% of the respondents, instructional videos on these techniques were deemed to be necessary.[Discussion and Conclusion] The minimal repetition on the education of acupuncture and moxibustion techniques implies a lack of emphasis regarding these skills. The dissonance between the subcutaneous and muscular tissue movements that were familiar to the instructors and those discussed in the video highlighted the significant differences in skills training among the various training institutions. Based on this feedback, instructional videos can be considered essential in accurately teaching acupuncture and moxibustion techniques by providing visual aids.