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.

[Introduction] In accordance with the 2018 revision of the Medical Care Act, prefectures have established career development programs for regional quota physicians aimed at both securing physicians committed to regional medical care and fostering their career development. We have surveyed and reviewed these programs across each prefecture.[Methods] The authors gathered information on the programs, which includes the acquisition of medical specialties, as well as the timing and duration of regional assignments, from the websites of each prefecture. The analysis of start timing and duration was limited to internal medicine.[Results] All prefectures have formulated programs. In more than 30% of the prefectures, regional quota physicians can choose any specialty from all available specialties. The regional assignment typically begins three years post-graduation, with a duration of four years in most cases.[Discussion] This nationwide trend provides a resource to evaluate the state of post-graduate education for regional quota physicians and to consider the future enhancement of these programs.

Objective: In Sweden, primary healthcare centers play an important role in the performance of general practice, education, and clinical research. In Japan, general physicians or general practitioners are expected to be more active in the small-scale hospitals and clinics in rural areas. This study aimed to explore the differences in attitudes toward general practice and clinical research among medical students in Japan and Sweden to present solutions to help doctors stay in rural areas of Japan.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at two medical schools in Japan and Sweden in 2018, using an anonymous and self-administered questionnaire survey that comprised 16 items including 9 items on clinical research.Results: Participants were 154 medical students (response rate: 69.4% for 222 students) in Japan and 56 (27.1% for 201 students) in Sweden. The proportion of medical students who wanted to become general physicians was greater in Japan than in Sweden (Japan:Sweden=36.4%:17.9%; P=0.012). Although fewer Japanese students wanted to conduct research in rural areas than Swedish students (43.5%:57.1%; P<0.001), the positive proportion of Japanese students working in clinical research and/or taking an academic degree in rural areas was greater than that of Swedish students (52.0%:23.2%; P=0.032).Conclusion: As Swedish medical students and young doctors learn considerably from primary healthcare centers, their attitudes toward clinical research are more developed than those of their Japanese counterparts. However, more Japanese medical students than Swedish students wish to become general practitioners, and they are likely to strive to conduct clinical research at small-scale hospitals/clinics in rural areas. Therefore, the improvement of the clinical research environment in small-scale hospitals and clinics in rural areas is needed at the earliest in Japan.

Education aimed at nurturing “non-cognitive abilities” that are not measured as academic skills has been garnering attention because these abilities can contribute to academic performance and life success. Empathy, one of these “non-cognitive abilities,” has been conceptualized in different ways in education, psychology and health care professional education. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the topic by combining its status as a “non-cognitive ability” with its role in health care professional education. This paper also reviews educational practices implemented to foster empathy.　First, we attempt to clarify the characteristics of empathy within the focus of different contexts. Through this, we introduce the concept of empathy in health care professional education as similar to that of psychology, in that it can be divided into two elements: cognitive and emotional. Second, regarding the elements of empathy, we review examples of educational programs that have been implemented to foster empathy among students in health care professional education, comparing them to their general education counterparts. Thus, we broaden the scope of empathy to include psychological attributes and skills, as well as empathetic environments and situations in which students and health care professionals find it difficult to empathize with others. Thus, this article can be used as a guide for overviewing the concept of empathy and developing education on empathy in health care professional education.

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.

Following the revision of the structure and content of the Model Core Curriculum for Medical Education to be more outcome-based and the legal status of the medical practice performed by medical students in the clinical clerkship, we have revised the Guideline for Participatory Clinical Clerkship. The following items were revised or newly described : significance of enhancing the participatory clinical clerkship, scope of medical practice, confidentiality, patient consent, patient consultation and support service, objectives of the clinical clerkship, simulation education, departments where the clinical clerkship is conducted, assessment in the clinical practice setting, CC-EPOC, and entrustable professional activities. A foundation has been established to promote seamless undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. However, future work is needed to examine the specific level of performance expected at the end of the clinical clerkship and department-specific clinical practice goals and educational strategies.

The first author set up a study group with other members in 2014, aiming to improve multidisciplinary collaboration through reflection and discussions on discomfort ( “Moyatto” in Japanese) while focusing on group members’ experiences at work. One-hour online sessions were conducted monthly with multidisciplinary professionals from several institutions. We reflected on interprofessional collaboration based on Moyatto. This paper describes the history of the study group’s inception and development, the learning process of each session, and the theory as a framework. It also reports on the practice and changes in our study group, concluding that interprofessional collaboration requires first-order reflection within a same-profession group and second-order reflection among diverse professionals.

We developed an educational program on cultural competence for psychiatric professionals. Regarding social justice education that critically questions dominant ideologies, we held weekly 30-minute discussion groups with multidisciplinary professionals. Rather than focusing on a particular culture group, we aimed to realize through critical self-reflection, as advocated by Kumagai and Lypson, that “there is a part of the other that I cannot know,” and named this group the “Discussion Group on Otherness.” Using essays on medical culture written by researchers in the medical humanities as our main teaching material, we discussed what is (or should be) the relevant problem. This article discusses the issues that have emerged so far, the responses to these issues, and future developments.

Foundation Program in Medical Education organized by Kyoto University since 2015, previously funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), is a program that combines face-to-face and distance learning to develop medical education training systematically. The students (or clinical teachers), who study about 120 hours a year, form a strong learning community, which is the envy of the supervisors, with their 12 peers. In addition, the program is characterized by its emphasis on educational philosophy and cultural anthropology.