Report on the 10th Forum of Leaders of Medical Education

Abstract

I had an opportunity to attend the 10th Forum of Leaders of Medical Education, which was sponsored by the Japan Medical Education Foundation. Guest lecturers were Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, Executive Director of Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Hospital Foundation for Research and Education, and Dr. Frank Harris, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Leicester. Both their lectures gave implicit suggestions for the future reform of Japanese medical education. The main suggestions to improve medical education were that 1) lectures on the clinical medicine should be minimized and self learning through a tutorial system should be encouraged; and 2) except for the basic medical sciences, teaching in medical schools and hospitals should be limited to the training of skills, including communication skills, for medical examinations. In addition, the system for evaluation of instructors at Harvard Medical School is impressive because it stresses educational ability and educational achievements rather than research achievements.