A special Students' Committee on Medical Education was established by the Student Union of Nippon Medical School. The members of this committee are all volunteers and have carried out several plans to improve the educational environment at our school. In 1999, the Students' Committee on Medical Education proposed holding joint meetings with the Education Committee of Nippon Medical School. The meeting was to allow communication between students and teachers for improving the curriculum. The volunteer faculty members of the Education Committee and students have held joint meetings seven times from November 1999 through February 2001. Discussions between students and teachers have changed ideas on both sides and have led to improvements in some educational programs, such as clinical internship during the summer vacation.

The purpose of this research was to develop a reflection program to support the practice of end-of-life care for nurses and to examine its effectiveness and feasibility. We developed and examined the effectiveness of a facilitator-based reflection program (FRP) and card-based reflection program (CRP). Average scores for both the FRP and CRP were measured using a Knowledge, Attitude and Difficulty Scale for palliative care and Self-education Ability Scale implemented before, immediately after, and 3 months after the program. The changes in scores were compared. This research was conducted with approval from the ethics review committee. Nine people participated in the FRP, and 15 in the CRP. FRP significantly reduced difficulty concerning palliative care compared to CRP. FRP significantly increased knowledge compared to CRP. Similar results were obtained within the FRP group. Both FRP and CRP were considered highly feasible because the program evaluation was high. In the future, it is necessary to clarify the effect of the reflection program by reviewing the research design.