In 2004 a program of community health and medicine was included in the national residency system. However, the contents and achievements of this program have not been adequately studied. We surveyed residents, program directors, and collaborating facilities for clinical training in community medicine in the Tohoku–Hokuriku region of Japan about the contents, practices, training period, curriculum development, and other aspects of the program.
1)We conducted a survey of 230 residents who had completed the program, 82 program managers, and 101 collaborating facilities.
2)The survey consisted of surveys of residents (survey 1), of program directors (survey 2), and of collaborating facilities (survey 3) and asked about the programs' consistency with the training objectives of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and satisfaction with community medicine.
3)Approximately 70% of residents, program managers, and collaborating facilities believed the training period for community medicine is appropriate.
4)Furthermore, 69.1% of residents, 65.5% of program directors, and 85.2% of facilities believed that the community medicine program in the national system was important or very important.
5)Training programs should be enhanced so that residents "understand and practice health care in outlying and rural areas" and to increase active involvement of program directors.

A correction of a coauthor's name from Chigusa Nakamura to Chigusa Nakagawa on the author list and the abstract.

Purpose: From shortly after the fentanyl patch became commercially available, we have been using it as part of our armamentarium for cancer therapy to produce a reliable analgesic effect from the active treatment period to the terminal stage in patients who are expected to develop resistance to oral analgesics. To confirm the usefulness of fentanyl patch, a retrospective study was conducted to determine its efficacy and safety. Method: A survey was conducted of 28 cancer patients who were undergoing pharmacological pain control. The following parameters were recorded: opioids administered prior to fentanyl patch use, reasons for switching to fentanyl patch, duration of administration and dosage of fentanyl patch, pain score before switching to fentanyl patch, adverse effects (nausea, vomiting, constipation and drowsiness), and the results of clinical tests. Results: The major reasons for switching to fentanyl patch were: "pain control with oral agents was expected to become difficult in future" and "adverse effects of chemotherapy were noted or were likely to develop". The mean duration of fentanyl patch use was 133 days, during which time the pain score and the constipation symptom were significantly reduced. No significant difference was found with nausea, vomiting, drowsiness or the results of clinical tests. Conclusion: It is concluded that fentanyl patch is a highly useful opioid for analgesia when administered during chemotherapy for cancer and continued to the terminal stage.

Objective : Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disease treated by polytherapy. This time, the authors report the role of pharmacists in one of the few Parkinson’s disease facilities in Japan (https://sunwels.jp/pdhouse/; abbreviated as PD House), which was born from the voices of PD patients. Methods : The backgrounds of 52 patients admitted to the PD House and prescriptions for them were analyzed to mainly clarify: the percentages of patients aged 75 or over and those using 7 or more prescribed drugs; and frequently used drugs to be carefully administered to the elderly. The approaches provided by pharmacists through interprofessional collaboration were also analyzed. Results : The percentages of patients aged 75 or over and those receiving benefits for individuals requiring care were 71.2 and 92.3%, respectively. Those using 7 or more prescribed drugs accounted for 75.0%. In multidisciplinary collaboration, pharmacists were involved in not only pharmacotherapy but also nutritional evaluation of patients with severe nutritional disorders, proposal of appropriate nutritional therapy, understanding of swallowing function, and appropriate medication teaching. Conclusion : The actual situation of PD patients, where they used multiple drugs, and their backgrounds suggest that interprofessional collaboration is indispensable for PD treatment, and the roles of pharmacists were shown to be important.