About Us
In recent years, as a result of the increasingly complex social structure in Japan, the impact of globalization and the rapid pace of progress in science and technology, the fields of medicine and healthcare have become increasingly specialized and fragmented. At the same time, with the rapid aging of Japanese society and the trend towards smaller families, there has been a dramatic transformation in attitudes towards health, disease and disability.
As a result of the social environment within which the field of medicine operates—including the aging population and decreasing family size, the development of more advanced medical technology and the increased adoption of in-home treatment, as well as the expansion of the nursing care and welfare sectors, etc.—there has been a general change in attitudes, with growing demand for medical care that embodies a higher level of empathy and ethical awareness, as well as for more effective risk management. Society has greater expectations regarding the cultivation of medical professionals; besides a high level of specialist expertise, society demands that the cultivation of these experts also imbue them with a high degree of humanitarian concern and high ethical standards.
The Graduate School of Health Sciences works to cultivate expert professionals who possess a high level of specialist knowledge and technical expertise in relation to the health sciences, and also to cultivate supervisors and managers capable of realizing first-class education and research, and talented individuals able to make a meaningful contribution to medical treatment and healthcare on outlying islands and in the wider international community; the Graduate School also aims to make a positive contribution by disseminating teaching and research results and related information as widely as possible within society. In line with these aims, the Graduate School of Health Sciences established its Master’s program in April 2003, followed by a PhD program in April 2005.
The Graduate School of Health Science has the following educational objectives: (1) To cultivate expert professionals, supervisors and managers who possess a high level of specialist knowledge and expertise. (2) To cultivate high-quality educators and researchers capable of serving in specialist health-related roles. (3) To cultivate talented individuals capable of providing education that effectively enhances students’ capabilities, and of undertaking original research. (4) To cultivate talented individuals capable of performing the role of supervisors and managers in relation to medical care and health care provision at the local level. (5) To cultivate talented individuals capable of performing the role of supervisor in relation to medical care and health care provision on outlying islands and in remote communities. (6) To cultivate talented individuals capable of promoting international healthcare activities.
A Master’s program (Nursing) in Radiology Nursing (accepting two students per year) was established in the 2012 academic year, followed in the 2014 academic year by a Master’s program in Midwifery (accepting seven students per year).
