The role of academic journals evolves with the times. Academic publishing is diversifying, shifting from traditional paper-based formats to broader dissemination through open access. In response to these developments-and to contribute to ongoing progress in medical education-Medical Education (Japan) has undertaken a comprehensive revision of its submission guidelines. As of January 17, 2025, all submissions, peer reviews, and editorial processes are being conducted in accordance with the updated guidelines.　The Editorial Board convened a round-table discussion to explore recent developments, beginning with the revision of the submission guidelines. This discussion elaborates on the journal's role and its relevance to the academic community, including society members, authors, and readers. It features statements from participating editorial committee members and highlights the key issues discussed, including the criteria each member uses to evaluate manuscripts. The aim is to offer insight into the journal's editorial stance and decision-making process.

Health support activities for residents were held three times during a period from June, 2016 to November, 2017. The residents registered in order to participate through 11 community pharmacies. Participant’s blood pressure values were measured at the venue of health support activities by pharmacists. The blood pressure values in 66 of the 106 participants were analyzed, excluding 40 participants receiving medical treatment. The rate of participants with hypertension, systolic blood pressure (SBP)≧140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP)≧90 mmHg, was 32% (21／66). Of those with hypertension, 43% (9／21) had hypertension of a high risk level, SBP≧160 mmHg or DBP≧100 mmHg. Pharmacists provided lifestyle counseling and encouraged them to make changes in order to achieve tighter blood pressure control. The data of their blood pressure values were provided to community pharmacies for continuing support of their blood pressure control. With the pharmacist’s support, the median value of blood pressure of participants who had hypertension decreased in the second event. In addition, 50% (3／6) of participants who attended the second event with hypertension of high risk level, visited the hospital for a consultation with a doctor after getting pharmacist’s advice. These results indicate that greater access to community pharmacists improved blood pressure control of residents with hypertension. However, there were many residents who consider it difficult to use pharmacies without a prescription. Hence, friendly relationship to residents on their utilizing pharmacies is needed for providing them lifestyle counseling such as preventing hypertension by pharmacists.

Based on the social context of an aging society and surveys conducted since 2020, the need for comprehensive perspectives and approaches that consider patients'psychosocial background and a cross-organ perspective has been identified. As a result, a new quality and ability, namely comprehensive attitudes toward patients, has been established as part of the core curriculum for medical education in FY2022. Specific learning objectives include "holistic perspectives and approaches," "community perspectives and approaches," "life perspectives and approaches," and "social perspectives and approaches". An educational design that draws on multiple learning theories to enable reflection on one's own way of being has been proposed to integrate abstract and concrete, conceptual and experiential, and self and others perspectives. It is expected that this medical education will lead to improvement in the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

In the 2022 revision of the Model Core Curriculum, a new "Educational Strategies and Assessment" section was added as a further development in outcome-based education. By adding a chapter on strategies and evaluation, which is an important element of the curriculum, and linking it to qualities and abilities, we have devised a way for learners and instructors to make use of the Core Curriculum more easily. In addition, 11 example of strategy and assessment cases are included as Good Practice to encourage practical application. However, since these are only examples, we hope this chapter will be further developed as universities create strategies and evaluations that make the most of their unique characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the adverse effects of Asian dust (AD) on respiratory function in children are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the association between AD and respiratory function by measuring peak expiratory flow rates (PEFRs) in asthmatic children. METHODS: The study was carried out from March to May from 2014 through 2016. One hundred ten children with bronchial asthma were recruited from four hospitals in the Goto Islands and south Nagasaki area in Nagasaki prefecture. The parents were asked to record their children's PEFRs every morning/evening and clinical symptoms in an asthma diary. AD was assessed from light detection and ranging data, and a linear mixed-effects model was used to estimate the effects of AD on daily PEFR. Time-stratified case-crossover analyses were performed to examine the association between AD and asthma attacks defined by reduction levels in PEFR. RESULTS: AD was detected on 11 days in the Goto Islands, and on 23 days in the south Nagasaki area. After adjusting for age, sex, temperature, and daily oxidants, we found a consistent association between AD and a 1.1% to 1.7% decrease in PEFR in the mornings and a 0.7% to 1.3% decrease in the evenings at a lag of 0 to 5 days. AD was not associated with the number of asthma attacks, respiratory symptoms, or other symptoms at any lag days examined. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to AD was associated with reduced PEFR, although the effects were not large enough to induce clinically apparent symptoms, in clinically well-controlled asthmatic children.

A thirty-eight-year old woman with facial pain was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, and treated with conventional carbamazepine therapy. Although the pain was alleviated to a certain degree, she visited our clinic to receive Kampo therapy. Judging from her facial injury in an accident thirty years ago, jidabokuippo was administered in addition to carbamazepine. The trigeminal neuralgia was then relieved, and Takagi's tender point in her abdomen was also reduced or disappeared. She could finally stop carbamazepine therapy. This case suggests that neuralgia patients with previous injury and Takagi's tender point can be treated with jidabokuippo.

To estimate the incidence of liver injury related to Kampo medicine containing Scutellaria baicalensis, all medical records in our clinic were retrospectively examined. Among 2,430 patients who took Kampo medicine containing Scutellaria baicalensis, liver blood tests were performed in 1,547 cases (63.7%). The possibility of liver injury related to Kampo medicine containing Scutellaria baicalensis could not be denied in 19 cases (1.2%) among the 1,547 cases. The clinical features of liver injury in 19 cases were not different from those in previous reports. In agreement with the previous literature, this study also suggests that the incidence of liver injury related to Kampo medicine containing Scutellaria baicalensis is about 1%.

Four-year longitudinal changes in walking ability were examined in 510 older adults in a rural community in Japan. The participants walked on an 11-m walkway at their preferred and maximum speeds, and velocity, step length, step rate, and walk ratio (step length/step rate) were measured. Physical performance, including muscle strength, balance, and manual skill, was examined concur rently. An age-related decline in all variables except for step rate was confirmed in the longitudinal as well as cross-sectional data. The longitudinal decline accelerated for participants in their seventies and over, as compared to those in their sixties. Grip strength, balance, and manual speed, measured at the baseline, predicted relative changes in walking velocity over four years. The risk of mortality and instrumental ADL decline in four years were also predicted by maximum walking velocity at the baseline. These results suggest that the walking test has discriminant and predictive validities for assessing the physical functioning of community-dwelling older adults.