Abstract
The educational curriculum for pharmaceutical students in Japan will be dramatically changed in April, 2006. There has been active discussion about how to manage the additional two years in the new program to educate students most effectively. In particular, the program of clinical practice in pharmacies, which will be undertaken for 10 weeks, has been received enthusiastically, because it was not considered sufficient in the previous educational program and it will be one of the most important issues in the new curriculum. I am neither a pharmacist nor a professional in pharmaceutical education, but I believe firmly that an effective program of clinical practice in community pharmacies will be indispensable in making the new curriculum successful. I also believe that community pharmacists educated in the new course will change medical systems in this country from the viewpoint of a general thoracic surgeon and chief executive officer of Pharmedico, Co., Ltd. which manages eight pharmacies in Osaka, Japan. In this article, I give my opinions on the advisable vector of clinical practice for pharmaceutical students and the direction of clinical training in the new educational program.
