A digital teaching material on the cardiac cycle, which discretely illustrates only the left heart system, not the right, and shows the pressure of each section clearly with an illustration of a water pipe pressure gauge, as proposed by G. Doman et al., was presented to medical students, who had not previously learned circulatory physiology. Many formative questions were also provided to promote active learning. After learning the material, the students were given an anonymous questionnaire comparing the present material with a standard textbook of physiology as the control. When asked the overall impression, 86% of the students supported the present material.

1) The present age is at the turning point of the view of “profession/professional” . The new professional ischaracterized with “the reflective practitioner” .
2) The education of the profession has had three ideal types: “apprenticeship model”, “technical exper model”, and “the reflective practitioner model” .
3) In the relationship between master and apprentice are no educational/instructional interactions. The principle of apprenticeship as an education system has two aspects: “imitation of the creation process” and “self-identification with the master” .
4) Complexity, unstableness, uniqueness, and value-conflict of the problems in the present time revealed the limitation of Technical Rationality. The professionals have newly taken a role of the clarification of the problem concerned or “structuring the problematic situation” .
5) The key concept of “the reflective practitioner” is the concept of “reflection/reflective” . It means that the professional practitioner ends not only to construct the cooperative relations among the persons who are involved in the problematic situation, but to be reflective to the professional community to which the practitioner belongs.

Background: Bone marrow aspiration is an essential but hazardous procedure. We have developed a mannequin simulator with posterior iliac crests to teach needle puncture.
Method: After watching a video demonstration of bone marrow aspiration, undergraduate medical students were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning their calmness （C） and self-confidence （S） in performing the procedure using 5-point rating scales （1–5: worst–best） and its estimated ease （E） （1-5: difficult–easy）. The students were given hands-on, small-group instruction using the simulator and allowed to practice, after which they were asked to answer the questionnaire again. The outcome was a change in scores between before and after practice. The paired Student’s t-test （two-tailed） was used for statistical analysis. We also evaluated correlations between pairs among 3 factors.
Results: The participants were 200 fifth-year student volunteers from Kawasaki Medical School. The scores after instruction and practice were higher than those before （C: 1.57±0.85 vs. 2.61±1.27; S: 1.61±0.85 vs. 2.86±1.01; and E: 2.36±1.13 vs. 3.65±1.11）. Estimated ease was moderately correlated with self-confidence in performing the procedure after instruction and practice, and the rank-correlation coefficients of before and after were 0.481 and 0.557, respectively. The coefficients of C and E before and after the instruction and practice were 0.346 and 0.526, respectively, whereas the coefficients S and C were 0.487 and 0.414, respectively.
Discussion: Simulator-based training may reduce medical students’ anxiety about bone marrow aspiration and its estimated difficulty.

　Modern medical education stresses the importance of staff／faculty development and its evaluation. The Medical Education Development Center of Gifu University has been accredited by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a National Collaboration Center and has held Seminar and Workshop on medical education 50 times over 14 years towards achieving the mission of staff／faculty development in Japan. Through the analysis of the characteristics of participants and the topics of the workshops and seminars held by the Medical Education Development Center, the history and future of staff／faculty development were examined. The key points suggested to predict the direction of staff／faculty development in the education of health professionals were: acquisition of comprehensive teaching competence, various learning strategies, the importance of work place and practicality, collaborative learning beyond boundaries, scholarly discussion to integrate international and domestic evidence, continuing professional development, and evaluation based on learning stage.

　In this manuscript, the background and basics of curriculum development are discussed.
●A curriculum statement is expected to be a guide for learners, teachers, and managers to fulfill their obligations in an educational program.
●Student-centered education and outcome-based education are basic concepts of curriculum planning. Essential competencies of medical students and physicians should be discussed and described as intended outcomes of undergraduate education and postgraduate training.
●In curriculum development, the overall purposes of the program are developed on the basis of related global, national, and local needs and context, after which intended learning outcomes, educational strategies, assessment, and management and program-improvement systems are constructed. Modules, integrated learning, spiral curriculum, and workplace-based learning facilitate the acquisition of professional competencies.
●Learners, who are important stakeholders, should also participate in the curriculum-development process. The public should be informed of the outcomes and quality of programs to ensure the accountability of medical education and the quality of graduates and physicians.

1. We participated in the 6th Jakarta Meeting on Medical Education held in Indonesia in 2013.
2. In Indonesia, medical education has been attracting more and more medical faculties. We are supposed to disseminate more academic outputs in the future.

Background: A nonprofit organization―the Supporting Center for Clinical Research and Education—has outsourced medical education to the Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. The main targets of this education are researchers and developers in pharmaceutical and medical-equipment companies.
Method: Since 2004, the Supporting Center for Clinical Research and Education has provided short, intensive seminars on 25 subjects to 214 company employees. The key components of the seminars are lectures, practice, case conferences, interviews with patients, and comprehensive discussions.
Results: After each seminar was completed, it was evaluated with questionnaires filled out by participants. Participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with all components of the seminars, with interviews with patients being the most highly rated.
Conclusions: Medical educational activities for company employees have increased in recent years. These seminars are intended to provide short, intensive, small-group instruction to researchers and developers in pharmaceutical and medical-equipment companies with a goal of patient-centered medical practice based on a proper understanding of the actual condition of patients.

Objective: To evaluate gender differences in mentee’s preference for mentoring styles and topics in academic medicine in Japan.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of mentees at 6 graduate schools of medicine in Japan from December 2011 through January 2012. The study participants were 1700 Japanese-speaking graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The primary outcome was the percentage of respondents who desired to be mentored with a particular style or topic.
Results: A total of 676 （227 women） mentees responded to the survey. Women were less likely than men to prefer a hierarchical mentoring relationship （men, 82%; women, 71%; p＝0.001） but were more likely to desire a mentor for career consultation （men, 51%; women, 64%; p＝0.001）. Women were more likely than men to want guidance in developing a research portfolio （men, 85%; women, 90%; p＝0.04）, in computer skills／statistical skills （men, 68%; women, 81%; p＝0.001）, and in long-term career planning （men, 38%; women, 50%; p＝0.003）.
Conclusion: Women mentees in Japan express different preferences for mentoring styles and topics from men. Mentors in Japan must take these differences into consideration.

Introduction: Consultation simulation with simulated patients has rarely been done as a training program.
Method: Fifth-year medical students in 2 neighboring universities attended the same training program at each site. The students’ performance was evaluated.
Result: Most medical students thought that this training program was valuable and that they require more opportunity to practice. Students evaluated their own performance in both medical procedures and differential diagnosis as being poor. However, about 50% of students felt that they paid careful attention to the simulated patient during physical examination. Students thought that the consultation was extremely realistic and that the series of medical procedures they performed at the first attempt was extremely difficult but increased their motivation. They thought that the feedback they received from simulated patients was beneficial.
Discussion: This education program is highly regarded by students and is suggested to be versatile.