It is very important to cooperate with interprofessional personnel is in order to establish the community-based integrated care system, but this is very difficult. We have held comprehensive consultation services regarding medical, welfare, and legal problems to support the community.Objectives: This study aimed to identify the associations between background factors (such as medical conditions, intractable diseases, welfare problems, disabilities, economic difficulties, legal problems, elderly adults, children, and foreign persons) and difficult cases to provide more thorough consultation services.Patients and Methods: A survey was conducted on people who participated in comprehensive consultation services on medical, welfare, and legal issues related to medical care, welfare, and legal matters held from April 2021 to March 2024. We analyzed risk factors that may be difficult to resolve using multivariate logistic regression.Results: Multivariate analysis showed that the factor of “economic difficulty” was significantly more difficult to solve.Conclusion: When treating patients, doctors must consider the possibility of multiple underlying issues. It is advisable for doctors to be aware of the need to consult with social workers and legal professionals when necessary.

Objective: To determine the socio-economic and educational backgrounds of first-generation college students (FGCs) among Japanese medical students, with the aim of contributing to the improvement of medical school admissions.　Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional online questionnaire survey was conducted. A total of 1,849 medical students and 295 nursing students participated.　Results: The proportion of FGCs among medical students was 12.1%, lower than that among nursing students (39.4%). The backgrounds of FGCs were compared with those of non-FGCs (students whose parents were university graduates). FGCs were more likely to come from small cities and from outside the Kanto/Kansai regions. They reported lower annual family incomes and had fewer doctors or dentists among their relatives. FGCs attended cram schools less frequently, were more likely to have graduated from national or public high schools, and had higher academic grades. They applied exclusively to national or public medical schools, were more likely to take regional quota or recommended AO entrance examinations, passed these exams immediately after high school graduation, and were more often enrolled in their first-choice and national or public medical schools. FGCs also expressed a stronger intention to work in less-populated areas in the future.　Discussion: The backgrounds of FGCs differ significantly from those of non-FGCs. Further investigation into the challenges and potential of FGCs in medicine is warranted.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the socioeconomic backgrounds of medical students who intend to practice in less-populated areas.METHODS: A nationwide online questionnaire survey was conducted among 1,822 Japanese medical students (1,024 from public universities and 798 from private universities) across 40 medical schools.RESULTS: Regarding preferred future practice locations, 25.2% of students intended to work in areas with populations over 1,000,000; 36.8% in areas with 200,000-1,000,000; 17.2% in areas with 50,000-200,000; and 4.8% in areas with fewer than 50,000 residents. Students who intended to work in less-populated areas (population >200,000) were more likely to have grown up in such areas, come from families with lower annual incomes, have fewer physician parents, have graduated from public high schools, and be enrolled in regional quota programs. Logistic regression analysis identified having a family background in a less-populated area (OR 9.46) and enrollment in a regional quota program (OR 2.72) as significant predictors of the intention to work in less-populated areas.DISCUSSION: There is a correlation between medical students’ intentions to work in less-populated areas and their socioeconomic backgrounds, which are important factors to consider when addressing the uneven distribution of physicians in Japan.

Many differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Therefore, as a primary prevention method, the early diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis and eradication of these bacteria can prevent gastric cancer. As a secondary prevention method, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer and endoscopic treatment can also contribute to reducing overall mortality. Gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important findings in patients with H. pylori gastritis. The accurate diagnosis of other characteristic findings is also important to comprehensively assess gastric cancer risk. The identification of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer by evaluating endoscopic gastric cancer risk scores, based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis, is similarly important. Recently, endoscopic image evaluation systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been developed to complement the diagnostic abilities of individual endoscopists and reduce interobserver variability; future developments in this area are highly anticipated.

Many differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Therefore, as a primary prevention method, the early diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis and eradication of these bacteria can prevent gastric cancer. As a secondary prevention method, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer and endoscopic treatment can also contribute to reducing overall mortality. Gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important findings in patients with H. pylori gastritis. The accurate diagnosis of other characteristic findings is also important to comprehensively assess gastric cancer risk. The identification of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer by evaluating endoscopic gastric cancer risk scores, based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis, is similarly important. Recently, endoscopic image evaluation systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been developed to complement the diagnostic abilities of individual endoscopists and reduce interobserver variability; future developments in this area are highly anticipated.

Many differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Therefore, as a primary prevention method, the early diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis and eradication of these bacteria can prevent gastric cancer. As a secondary prevention method, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer and endoscopic treatment can also contribute to reducing overall mortality. Gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important findings in patients with H. pylori gastritis. The accurate diagnosis of other characteristic findings is also important to comprehensively assess gastric cancer risk. The identification of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer by evaluating endoscopic gastric cancer risk scores, based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis, is similarly important. Recently, endoscopic image evaluation systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been developed to complement the diagnostic abilities of individual endoscopists and reduce interobserver variability; future developments in this area are highly anticipated.

Many differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Therefore, as a primary prevention method, the early diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis and eradication of these bacteria can prevent gastric cancer. As a secondary prevention method, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer and endoscopic treatment can also contribute to reducing overall mortality. Gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important findings in patients with H. pylori gastritis. The accurate diagnosis of other characteristic findings is also important to comprehensively assess gastric cancer risk. The identification of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer by evaluating endoscopic gastric cancer risk scores, based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis, is similarly important. Recently, endoscopic image evaluation systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been developed to complement the diagnostic abilities of individual endoscopists and reduce interobserver variability; future developments in this area are highly anticipated.

Utilizing data presented in the article by Miyashita et al., we illustrate the importance of testing data when assessing surveillance data. Accounting for the number of tests (denominator) and positivity (proportion of tests positive for a specific pathogen(s)) improves data interpretation in ways not possible from numerator case data alone.

Many differentiated and undifferentiated gastric cancers are associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Therefore, as a primary prevention method, the early diagnosis of H. pylori gastritis and eradication of these bacteria can prevent gastric cancer. As a secondary prevention method, the early diagnosis of gastric cancer and endoscopic treatment can also contribute to reducing overall mortality. Gastric mucosal atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are important findings in patients with H. pylori gastritis. The accurate diagnosis of other characteristic findings is also important to comprehensively assess gastric cancer risk. The identification of precancerous lesions and early gastric cancer by evaluating endoscopic gastric cancer risk scores, based on the Kyoto classification of gastritis, is similarly important. Recently, endoscopic image evaluation systems equipped with artificial intelligence have been developed to complement the diagnostic abilities of individual endoscopists and reduce interobserver variability; future developments in this area are highly anticipated.

In this revision, we have attempted to align the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education competency, "problem-solving ability based on specialized knowledge," with the "Standards of National Examination for Medical Practitioners." The major diseases and syndromes in "Essential Fundamentals" correspond to the basic diseases in Table 1 of the Core Curriculum, symptoms, physical and laboratory examinations, and treatment in "General Medicine" correspond to the items in Table 2 of the Core Curriculum, and the diseases in "Medical Theory" correspond to the diseases in PS-02 of the Core Curriculum. The validity of the diseases in the Core Curriculum was verified using the evaluation results of the examination level classification of the "Research for Revision of National Examination Criteria." Approximately 690 diseases were conclusively selected. This revision mentions the number of diseases in the Core Curriculum for the first time. Hopefully, this will lead to a deeper examination of diseases that should be studied in medical schools in the future.