SPs have made a dramatic development in medical education over 10 years, due to the influence of medical education curriculum reform and the introduction of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination. However the quality of SPs' activities varies. In order to increase the quality it is necessary to analyze the psychological needs of SPs. The purpose of this survey is to explore SPs' personal characteristics and how they feel during their activities.
1) In a nationwide survey of Japanese SPs, 332 SPs (62%) out of 532 responded.
2) Sixty percent of SPs were between the ages of 50 and 69 years and the ratio of male to female SPs was 1: 4. The ratio of workers and non-workers was 1: 2.
3) A qualitative analysis found that SP motivations were derived mainly from making a contribution to society and self-improvement. Ninety six percent of SPs were satisfied with being an SP, especially when they saw improvements in the students.
4) However, 67% of SPs expressed difficulty with the three core skills of feedback, evaluation and performance.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify changes with school years in the characteristics of nursing students' communication skill experience in clinical practice. After the completion of clinical practice, nursing students were asked about factors associated with the success and failure of their establishment of communication with patients and communication skills requiring improvement. The described contents were qualitatively analyzed.
1) Concerning factors associated with the success of the establishment of communication, the category most frequently described was “topics” in the first year, “patient's condition” in the second year, and “ways of talking” in the third year. In addition, “non-verbal communication” was frequently observed in the first year.
2) Concerning factors associated with the failure of the establishment of communication, ‘inadequate understanding of patients’ and ‘one-sided questions’ as subcategories of “ways of talking” were commonly observed in the 3 years. As subcategories, “intensity/speed of voice” was extracted in the first year and “i mmature coping with patients' anxiety” in the second and third years.
3) Concerning communication skills requiring improvement, the categories most frequently observed were “ways of talking” and “my own attitude” . As subcategories, ‘ways of initiating the flow of talk ’ and ‘respect for patients’were extracted in the first year, ‘ways of enticing patients to speak’ and ‘overcoming tension’ in the second year, and ‘acceptance’ and ‘self-disclosure’ in the third year.
4) These results suggested the necessity for instructions in the selection of topics and non-verbal communication in the first year, clarification of patients' needs in the second year, and acceptance of patients' feelings in the third year as learning support based on the characteristics of nursing students' communication skill experience in clinical practice in each school year.

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1) In Japan, an integrated curriculum for public health professionals and nurses was enacted in April 1997, as was as integrated curriculum for midwives and nurses. By April 2006, ten schools had been established to provide the former curriculum, but no schools had been established to provide the latter.
2) In the integrated curriculum for midwives and nurses, there are few community health nursing units, and the very concept of the integration is problematic in that midwifery does not tend to involve illness or old age.
3) The integrated curriculum seems to have been enacted without due thought as to its practicability. However, it may be desirable to use the system as a way to address the chronic shortage of midwives in Japan today.

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1) The principle of respect for human being is a basis of attitude development education.
2) Continuous training and repetition of clinical skills is an excellent attitude development education when performed under the principle of respect for human being.
3) Clinical skills have both human and technical sides. In clinical skills' training, we have to be careful not to interfere with the patient-doctor relationship.

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1) Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effect of the guidance, which was carried out for the promotion of professional identity formation immediately before the practice, to the nursing students' professional identity, self-confidence and concerns about appraisal.
2) Method: 67 third-year students in a nursing professional school were guided immediately before the practice using 2 hours of lecture and 3 hours of exercises. All the contents of the lecture and exercises were prepared by us. The questionnaire survey was used before and after the guidance.
3) Results: The guidance immediately before the practice had an effect to increase self-confidence and professional identity of the students, and to reduce concerns about appraisal.

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Students in their 5th and 6th year of University of Tsukuba, School of Medicine, enter into a clinical clerkship. They record medical charts and flow sheets and they present at clinical rounds.
1) From 2000 to 2005, a questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the clinical clerkship in the rheumatology division. We also evaluated the influence of the introduction of infliximab therapy (October 2003) on the students' experience.
2) Evaluation of the clinical clerkship by the students was improved by attending the infliximab ward. Students felt more involved in the treatment of the patients by preparing drip infusion sets, disssolving infliximab, assisting with the drawing of blood and drip infusions, checking of the vital signs every 30 minutes, and recording charts.
3) Students realized the improvement of rheumatoid arthritis with therapy and the changes in the patients' emotional status after the introduction of infliximab.

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1) 34, 9 and 57% of the 5th year medical students participating in clinical clerkship training program agreed on the need for selecting palliative therapy, death with dignity, and euthanasia, respectively, in response to a terminal stage of malignancy.
2) 60% of medical students supported the organ transplant legislations, but only 23% actually carried an organ donor card. 26% of the surveyed students supported the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology's attitude towards preimplantation diagnosis.
3) It was pointed out that they had better educated about bioethics.

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