Introduction: The aim of this study is to explore career perceptions of male and female medical students.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews to 16 medical students (9males, 7 females) were undertaken.
Results: Qualitative data analysis showed that development of their career perceptions were affected by “gender view”, “interests in medicine” as well as their “perceptions of family”. Specifically, female students in the lower grades felt difficulty in making decisions on career choices due to the conflict between carrying out family responsibilities (e.g., housework and childcare) and interests in medicine. After clinical clerkships, their perceptions of a career were formed in one of two ways: giving priority to family responsibilities or interest in medicine. On the other hand, male students in lower and higher grades consistently gave priority to their interests in medicine for their career choices.
Conclusion: Differing career perceptions between male and female medical students emerged from this study, and supports the need for undergraduate education on gender-equality in society.

 The increase of female physicians and its undeveloped supporting system can be one of the causes of physicians' shortage. Although physicians' marriage/family perceptions and their influences on career choices have been extensively studied, those of medical students are not fully understood. An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted involving male/female medical students in years 2 and 5 at Gifu University School of Medicine. The results showed that many male/female students hoped to get married, have children, and continue to work in the future, but different perceptions were demonstrated between the sexes with regards to the partners' occupation, working style, and influences of family/marriage perceptions on students' specialty choice. The results suggest the presence of sex-related differences in perceptions among medical students. The survey indicates the necessity of early undergraduate education for a better mutual understanding of gender issues.

  The incidence of fever in children admitted to general hospitals is very high. Provision of adequate nutrition and fluid supplements to febrile children is very important, but with some children it is difficult to maintain an adequate intake. To address this problem, we devised a new ‘febrile children's menu’, utilizing preparation methods and foods to produce a palatable menu for patients with fever.
  We introduced this ‘febrile children's menu‘ on January 6, 2011, providing it to 109 patients (age range: 1 to 8 years, average age: 3.3±1.9 years) over the ensuing 3-month period. We provided a mean 4.0±2.9 meals per day to each patient during their febrile stage (≥37.5°C). To evaluate the usefulness of the ‘febrile children's menu’, we investigated eating rates during the febrile period in all patients who had been provided with the menu, and performed a questiomaire survey on their parents/guardians. The mean eating rates during the febrile period were 39±30% for main meals, and 28±22% for side dishes. No significant difference was seen in the eating rates during the febrile period recorded over the 2-month period prior to introduction of the new menu to 112 febrile children (age range: 1 to 8 years, average age: 3.3±2.1 years), 39±30% for main meals, and 29±22% for side dishes. The questionnaire survey was responded by 43 parents/guardians (a recovery rate of 39%). The ‘febrile children's menu’ was assessed as ‘good’ by 67% of respondents, representing an overall favourable impression from the parents/guardians. With reference to the survey results, we will attempt to further improve the ‘febrile children's menu’ with the aim of increasing eating rates during the febrile period.

  In recent years, changes in Japanese dietary habits have been associated with the increased incidence of obesity and lifestyle diseases even among children. Dietary education is considered essential for stemming this trend. In this study, we introduced the following initiative in dietary education for children admitted to hospital and their parents from the standpoint of health care workers providing meals to inpatients. We added a ‘Children's Lunch’ to the menu. Designed for the fussy children, it was a nutritionally balanced meal. On traditional seasonal festival days, we wrote an introduction to Japanese seasonal cuisine and showed it to the children. To the parents, we distributed a regular weekly pamphlet outlining the importance of dietary education, with an explanation of the ingredients used in the meals, and recipes.  To assess the results of this initiative, we conducted a questionnaire survey of parents on a weekly basis. The results of the surveys (n=215, recovery rate 87%) taken during the first three months showed that the majority of parents rated all four aspects of the ‘Children's Lunch’ high menu content, presentation, child's response, and the pamphlet contents. The parents displayed a deep interest in our activity, because 93% of those parents said that they were impressed with dietary education. On the other hand, some dietary problems were identified, with tendencies to use only ingredients preferred by the children, and eat out often.  This was a short term initiative, limited to hospitalization, but we were cwetain that we had been able to provide an opportunity for parents to think about their children's diets. We plan to continue this initiative, thereby making a contribution to dietary education for children.

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome is a chromosomal aberration caused by a deletion of the distal short arm of chromosome 4, characterized by distinct craniofacial features, failure to thrive, psychomotor developmental retardation, epilepsy, and feeding disorders. We report a case of patient with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome who underwent interventional rehabilitation commencing from the neonatal period in the neonatal intensive care unit. The patient was born at gestational age of 38 weeks 0 days, weighing 1583 g, with an Apgar score of 4/9, and was diagnosed with partial monosomy of the short arm of chromosome 4. Postnatal inspiratory stridor exacerbation was noted for which high-flow nasal cannula therapy was initiated. Rehabilitation commenced on the 18th day after the infant's birth, to promote sensorimotor development. Initially, the trunk was in a low muscle tension and unstable state. Therefore, we first prescribed rest followed by sensorimotor rehabilitation. When the infant's clinical condition stabilized, we performed prone and anti-gravity hugging exercises to improve the low trunk tension. Breastfeeding evaluation began 56 days after birth, when the respiratory condition improved. We practiced feeding the infant orally, in collaboration with doctors and nurses, to reduce bending and stabilize the posture when raising the mandible. The infant was gradually able to feed orally and gained weight. Thereafter, he was discharged 141 days after birth. This report concluded that rehabilitation intervention from the neonatal period, in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team and patient's family, contributed to initiation of oral feeding, improvement of sensorimotor development, and smooth transition to home care.

Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome is a chromosomal aberration caused by a deletion of the distal short arm of chromosome 4, characterized by distinct craniofacial features, failure to thrive, psychomotor developmental retardation, epilepsy, and feeding disorders. We report a case of patient with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome who underwent interventional rehabilitation commencing from the neonatal period in the neonatal intensive care unit. The patient was born at gestational age of 38 weeks 0 days, weighing 1583 g, with an Apgar score of 4/9, and was diagnosed with partial monosomy of the short arm of chromosome 4. Postnatal inspiratory stridor exacerbation was noted for which high-flow nasal cannula therapy was initiated. Rehabilitation commenced on the 18th day after the infant's birth, to promote sensorimotor development. Initially, the trunk was in a low muscle tension and unstable state. Therefore, we first prescribed rest followed by sensorimotor rehabilitation. When the infant's clinical condition stabilized, we performed prone and anti-gravity hugging exercises to improve the low trunk tension. Breastfeeding evaluation began 56 days after birth, when the respiratory condition improved. We practiced feeding the infant orally, in collaboration with doctors and nurses, to reduce bending and stabilize the posture when raising the mandible. The infant was gradually able to feed orally and gained weight. Thereafter, he was discharged 141 days after birth. This report concluded that rehabilitation intervention from the neonatal period, in collaboration with the multidisciplinary team and patient's family, contributed to initiation of oral feeding, improvement of sensorimotor development, and smooth transition to home care.

Spinal muscular atrophy is a neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle atrophy and progressive muscle weakness due to the degeneration of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord. We report a case of an adult patient with spinal muscular atrophy type II and difficulty holding a sitting position. The patient was evaluated before and after Nusinersen treatment and thereafter periodically for up to 3 months for motor and daily living functions. At 3 months post-treatment, the Expanded version of the Hammersmith Functional Motor Scale and the Revised Upper Limb Module, which are motor function assessment tools for evaluating spinal muscular atrophy, showed an increase of 2 points. Evaluation of daily functioning using the Canadian occupational performance measure demonstrated improvements in eating and computer finger manipulation, and these improvements were considered important in daily lives by the patient. This report shows that the Nusinersen treatment improved motor and daily life functions in a patient with spinal muscular atrophy and low motor function. The report also concludes that rehabilitation evaluation for spinal muscular atrophy should include a disease-specific assessment of motor function, combined with an assessment focusing on physical symptoms and daily life functions to capture clinical changes that are responsive to individual patients with spinal muscular atrophy.