The roles of behavioral science in current medical education are examined in terms of its origin and the deregulation of the university establishment standards. Based on modern disease structures, the basic elements of behavioral science education are summarized from the viewpoint of human relationships that support holistic medicine. Specific examples of learning attitudes using laboratory training are also examined.

　To survive in a changing social environment of medical care in Japan, medical students should learn viewpoints and methods of social sciences. In recent years in Japan, the importance of primary and community care is increasing due to the change of the disease structure in an aging society. Future talented doctors should be competent mediators between hospital medical and community care. In community care, it is necessary to understand clients in socio-cultural contexts. Social sciences can provide viewpoints and methods to understand people in such contexts. Social sciences can also provide a macroscopic understanding of the influence of the social structure on the medical system.

　Case studies and PBL may be suitable to learn viewpoints and methods of social sciences in medical education. So, the accumulation of cases which sufficiently provide problems to be analyzed by the methods of social sciences is necessary. The collaboration of medical practitioners and social scientists is also necessary to develop these teaching materials and education methods.

　Modern society is a late capitalist society, and its structure continues to change. Therefore, if situational awareness is based on the premise of specific social structures, it will become meaningless over time. As a challenge for modern medical education, it is necessary to develop students' skills required to respond to social changes and modify their awareness of the world. It is not important for students to memorize principles as knowledge and apply them in practical settings. Medical educators in the 21st should help medical students develop attitudes required to understand life culture in practical settings.

　In the 21st century, the life culture of patients will be supported by placing emphasis on settings for clinical practice. In the 20th century, or the era of hospitals, it was important to implement homogenized and standardized medical procedures and make decisions modeled after those for inpatients. However, in the 21st century, medical technologies and techniques will be integrated in the life culture of patients. In other words, medical education in the 21st century shall be implemented based on behavioral science education to understand the diversity of people's life culture.

　With medical education in Japan now undergoing a radical reformation, so too is education for the humanities and social sciences in Japanese medical schools. As an anthropologist, I have long used fieldwork as a method of research and education. In the present study, I argue that fieldwork is not only effective in nurturing perspectives based on the humanities and social sciences in medical education, but that it also contributes to the development of basic qualities required of medical professionals. Specifically, these basic qualities refer to "common values" existing among a group of people living in the same locality who share similar cultural characteristics when dealing with the everyday affairs of life. I show how these values are nurtured in the field through students' actual sense of presence in the world they share with various living creatures.

　As psychological, behavioral, and social factors have a significant impact on health and illness, approaches to these factors are important in medical practice. From the perspectives of global standards of medical education, medical curricula with emphasis on behavioral and social sciences are necessary. The behavioral and social science contents of medical education in the U.S. include six domains: mind-body interactions in health and disease, patients' behavior, physicians' role and behavior, physician-patient interactions, social and cultural issues in health care, and health policy and economics. We need to develop educational outcomes, strategies, assessment, and faculty development to incorporate behavioral and social sciences into medical curricula in Japan.

　Since the statement made by the ECMFG, WFME Global Standards have been focused on by medical departments, and pre-graduate behavioral science education which is one of the requirements included in these standards has gained prominent attention in Japan. In Japan's society, where the birthrate is decreasing and the population is growing older, physicians are required to have a patient-centered viewpoint instead of focusing on specialized treatment and hospital-oriented medical care. It has been 10 years since early clinical training became mandatory, and there is a need to develop medical education that allows physicians to nurture their professionalism and clarify their types of competence. In addition, using materials and strategies necessary for medical practice, medical departments need to provide education in practical medical behavioral science that facilitates the comprehensive learning of professionalism, medical ethics, NBE, and medical safety.

The Consensus of this Committee is:

1) To change the name of the present committee from "Premedical Education Committee" to "Committee on Behavioral and Social Science" ; accordingly to discuss theoretical foundations, clinical application, learning objectives and outcomes of behavioral and social science in Japanese medical schools.

2) To collect actual case studies of teaching behavioral and social sciences in Japanese medical schools and create a database for such practices.

3) To develop behavioral and social science curriculum content in Japanese medical schools.

4) To organize training courses for teaching methods for behavioral and social science curricula and develop standardized teaching methods and materials.

Objective: To assess opinions on bioethics and human death for more effective ethics-based education in the future.

Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey among medical students in their 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th years and non-medical 1st year students.

Results: A baseline assessment among the 1st year students demonstrated significant differences between medical and non-medical students regarding some points, such as euthanasia, human cloning, fear of death, living a life with purpose, and human death. Significant differences were found between medical students in their 2nd, 4th, and 6th years in the following items: pre-implantation and prenatal genetic diagnosis, genetic testing, assisted reproductive technology, and living a life with purpose.

Conclusions: Based on medical students' opinions regarding bioethics and human death, we expect further improvements in ethics-based education for them at all levels.

Introduction: The problems of problem learners hare not been systematically demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to summarize the English expression and definition of problem learners and classify factors associated with problems.

Method: A systematic literature review was conducted.

Results: The expressions extracted were disability, learning disorders, at-risk, difficult, problem, struggle, underperform, unprofessional, unsafe, gifted, and outstanding. Factors associated with the problems were classified into learners' characteristics, cognition, attitude, and skill.

Discussion: These findings will help teachers understand and detect the problems of problem learners appropriately.

　There was a debate on the applicability of "Bushido" to professionalism among Japanese physicians. Regardless of the historical aspects upon the writing of "Bushido" by Inazo Nitobe, "Bushido" can be applicable to professionalism. This conclusion leads to the fact that one cannot avoid the fundamental discussion on the influence of the "Eyes of Others" when evaluating the professionalism of each physician. This suggests that the evaluation, a concept in the field of education regarded as "given" , is essentially an obstacle when it comes to the matter of education for professionalism.