Since 1999 all sixth-year students at Osaka City University Medical School have done clinical clerkships at teaching hospitals outside the university. Students can choose overseas or domestic hospitals. By the end of the 2002 academic year 32 students had done clerkships in 7 foreign countries. Arrangements for participating in overseas clerkships differ in many ways from those for domestic clerkships, as students must get information about hospitals and complete application forms in English. Because most medical students feel that making such arrangements is difficult and complex, in 2000 students established a volunteer organization that helps students to study abroad. To make the best use of this organization, Osaka City University Medical School has established several guidelines, including setting standards for students and criteria for choosing overseas hospitals. We report on some problems encountered by our school and on measures for dealing with them and report on the student-managed support organization for overseas clinical clerkships.

Objective: This review seeks to identify trends and issues in preventing aspiration for the elderly overseas in the hopes of gathering information regarding how a similar level of care may be provided in Japan.Materials and Methods: The authors used the CHINAL Ultimate database to review academic publications from December 2012 to December 2022. Four terms, one from each of four sets of keywords, were combined as search criteria: (1) “dysphagia”, “aspiration”, “choking”, “airway obstruction asphyxia”, “swallowing function”, or “pneumonia”, (2) “aged” or “elderly people”, (3) “nursing” or “nursing care”, and (4) prevention. Papers that did not directly relate to the purpose of this review were excluded.Results: The authors identified fourteen publications regarding preventative care for aspiration in the elderly. According to the reports, preventative care mainly consisted of ensuring proper oral care, screening to assess swallowing function, and taking steps at meals to prevent aspiration.Conclusion: Our research showed that the primary ways of preventing aspiration in the elderly overseas included (1) screening for oral conditions and swallowing function to prevent pneumonia and (2) providing proper oral care coupled with support during meals.