We used questionnnaires to study the present status of the workshop for faculty development at medical schools in Japan in February 2001. All the questionnaires were filled and returned by 100%(80) of 80 medical schools. Although only 50%(40) of schools had the workshop in 1996, the workshop of teaching staff for faculty development was carried out at 92.5%(74) of schools in 2001. But, the rate of teaching staff worked the curriculum planning as the principle of medical education, was only about 10 to 20%.

Recent remarkable advances in medical computer technology have allowed earlier and more accurate diagnosis. These improvements in diagnosis have led to the wider recognition of the importance of computer literacy and teaching medical students to use computers. However, establishing a well-defined course for teaching computer science is difficult because of the rapid advances in computer technology. In this paper we present an outline of an educational program and practical exercises for the development of computer literacy which were introduced at Iwate Medical University in 1998.

Since the model core curriculum was shown in public, the discussion about the medical education is getting hot in every medical school. In the model core curriculum, the integrated course is designed with the basic sciences and the clinical medicine via pathophysiology, which will be educated by the PBL tutorial. Thus, the model core curriculum is suitable for growing up better clinician. The problem involved in the context is the lower recognition to the basic sciences and also the missing of the next generation in the teaching staff of the basic sciences. The introduction of the information technology to the medical education should be much progressive. The new integrated course with the structure and function should be designed with the information technology, which will fit to the new medical education in the 21st century.

1) The faculty development at each medical school from 2003 through 2005 was analysed.
2) The major themes in faculty development were problem based learning, tutorial, computer based testing, and clinical training.
3) Faculty development is considered an effective way to enhance the contributions of faculty members to medical education.

1) Common training for the introduction of research and the elective and individual guidance for research should be devised in a manner attractive to graduate students of medicine.
2) To train researchers, a graduate school of clinical medicine should be established as a professional school, separate from an ordinary graduate school.
3) To promote basic medical sciences, the capacity of graduate schools of basic medical sciences should be reduced despite the number of teachers and the bold plan for the financial support of students.

Computer-based testing (CBT) has been used in Japan since 2002 to assess medical students' basic and clinical medical knowledge, based on the model core-curriculum, before they start clinical clerkships. For effective CBT, multiplechoice questions must accurately assess the knowledge of students. Questions for CBT are submitted by all medical schools in Japan. However, only 40% of questions are chosen for CBT and used at random; the other 60% of questions are rejected because of poor quality. Toimprove the ability of medical staff to devise questions, workshops were held at 30 medical schools. The acceptance rate of questions from schools where workshops were held was significantly increased. The workshops were extremely effbctive for improving the quality of questions.

　The education program in all medical schools in Japan has been studied and analyzed every 2 years since 1974 by the curriculum committee of the Association of Japan Medical Colleges. Based on the most recent analysis in 2015, the marked innovation of medical education, such as an integrated curriculum, active learning, and clinical clerkship, was recognized.