Views concerning nursing and nursing course of senior high school guidance teachers

1993年に岡山県で行った先の研究で,高校生の看護課程の選択にあたって,進路指導を行っている教師の役割が大きい事を報告した｡今回は3年経った1996年に,同じ郵送調査を岡山県および周辺10県の普通科高校617校より無作為に選んだ127校において実施した｡64校より得られた回答を要約すると以下の通りであった｡1.教師が挙げた看護婦不足の理由はまず｢勤務時間が厳しい(85.9%)｣,｢仕事の内容が厳しい(53.1%)｣といった仕事のきつさで,次いで｢仕事の割には社会的評価が低い(32.8%)｣であった｡2.教師が学生に肯定的イメージとして看護課程を勧める理由は,｢まず専門職であること(73.4%)｣,次いで｢人に貢献できる喜び(53.1%)｣であった｡これらの結果は前回の結果と比較して統計的な有意差は認めなかった｡3.近年進められている3年制看護課程(準学士課程)から4年制課程(学士課程)への移行に関して,教師はこれらは学生の関心を呼ぶとし(79.8%),看護課程へ進学する者は増加するであろうとしている(57.8%)｡またこれまでよりこの課程への進学を教師は勧め易くなるとしている(56.3%)。これらの率は前回の結果と比較すると統計的に有意に高かった。A previous study in Okayama prefecture in 1993 indicated the importance of high school teachers' influential rule on student's choice of nursing course. The same questionnaire survey was sent out by mail in 1996 to guidance teachers of 127 general high schools randomly selected from 617 schools in 10 prefectures, in and around Okayama. Data obtained from 64 teachers were analyzed and the results were as follows; 1. They suggested that shortage of nursing manpower was due to the harsh working conditions such as long and irregular hours (85.9%) and hard work (53.1 %), and also the low social esteem of nurse (32.8%). 2. The aspect of nursing noted by teachers were job specialty (73.4%) and devotion to people (53.l%). There were no statistical difference between these results and those of the previous study. 3. The teachers answered that the new four-year nuersing course (baccalaureate) currently being promoted from over the the present three-year course (associate degree) would be an incentive to students (79.8%) and might increase the number of students choosing to study nursing (57.8%). And they also noted that they would more readily recommend this course to students than before. These rates were significantly increased compared to the results of the previous report

Senior high school students' recognition and interest in allied medical education of college

1996年7～9月にかけて,岡山県周辺の10県下高校普通科3年在学中の学生に志望進路,志望分野とともに大学,短期大学における医療技術教育への認識と関心についてアンケート調査を行った｡サンプリングによって依頼した127校のうち回答が得られたのは52校(回収率40.9%)で,得られた回答数は合計1,998人(男子891人,女子1,077人,不明30人)であった｡これらの分析から,これらの地域では進学志望者の率は高く,特に男子に著名で,男女ともに理系への志望が多いことを認めた｡医療技術系大学の認識は看護学科を除いて低く,関心も特に男子で低かった｡4年制大学の進学を志望する学生にとっては, 3年制の多い医療技術系短期大学には関心が寄せがたく, 4年制へ移行した場合には関心も志望も高まる事が認められた｡将来この分野を担う人材の確保には現在の医療短大の4年制化や医療技術職の待遇改善が重要である と結論づけた｡A survey was carried out by senior high school students in Okayama and nine surrounding prefectures from July through September, 1996. Data obtained from 1998 twelfth-grade students studying general courses at 52 schools were computed. Eighty four percent of the 891 male students and 54.2% of the 1,077 female students wished to go on to senior college. Sixtyseven percent of the male students wished to enter science college courses, while only 25.8% of female students did. The rate of students who knew about the course of allied medical science in senior or junior colleges was 63.8% for male students and 82.5% for female students. The nursing course was popular among both sexes, but other courses such as radiological technology, medical technology, physical therapy and occupational therapy were not well known, especially among male students. It was thought that students wishing to go on to the senior college were not interested in those areas which were usually taught in three year courses at junior colleges or special (vocational) schools. Accordingly, the data showed that their interests in the allied medical course would be increased by the shifting it to a four year course. To attract senior high school students who are both intelligent and talented in the medical and health field, the authors concluded that the further improvement of educational course for allied medicine, especially such as shifting to a four year course, and the bettering of position of comedical workers through it are needed

A proposed core curriculum for dental English education in Japan

Background: Globalization of the professions has become a necessity among schools and universities across the world. It has affected the medical and dental professions in terms of curriculum design and student and patient needs. In Japan, where medicine and dentistry are taught mainly in the Japanese language, profession-based courses in English, known as Medical English and Dental English, have been integrated into the existing curriculum among its 83 medical and 29 dental schools. Unfortunately, there is neither a core curriculum nor a model syllabus for these courses. Methods: This report is based on a survey, two discussion forums, a workshop, and finally, the drafting of a proposed core curriculum for dental English approved by consensus of the participants from each university. Results: The core curriculum covers the theoretical aspects, including dental English terms and oral pathologies; and practical aspects, including blended learning and dentist-patient communication. It is divided into modules and is recommended to be offered for at least two semesters. Conclusions: The core curriculum is expected to guide curriculum developers in schools where dental English courses are yet to be offered or are still in their early development. It may also serve as a model curriculum to medical and dental schools in countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Central and South America, where English is not the medium of instruction

Common Variants in CDKN2B-AS1 Associated with Optic-Nerve Vulnerability of Glaucoma Identified by Genome-Wide Association Studies in Japanese

BACKGROUND: To date, only a small portion of the genetic variation for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), the major type of glaucoma, has been elucidated. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined our two data sets of the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) derived from a total of 2,219 Japanese subjects. First, we performed a GWAS by analyzing 653,519 autosomal common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 833 POAG patients and 686 controls. As a result, five variants that passed the Bonferroni correction were identified in CDKN2B-AS1 on chromosome 9p21.3, which was already reported to be a significant locus in the Caucasian population. Moreover, we combined the data set with our previous GWAS data set derived from 411 POAG patients and 289 controls by the Mantel-Haenszel test, and all of the combined variants showed stronger association with POAG (P<5.8 × 10(-10)). We then subdivided the case groups into two subtypes based on the value of intraocular pressure (IOP)--POAG with high IOP (high pressure glaucoma, HPG) and that with normal IOP (normal pressure glaucoma, NPG)--and performed the GWAS using the two data sets, as the prevalence of NPG in Japanese is much higher than in Caucasians. The results suggested that the variants from the same CDKN2B-AS1 locus were likely to be significant for NPG patients. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: In this study, we successfully identified POAG-associated variants in the CDKN2B-AS1 locus using a Japanese population, i.e., variants originally reported as being associated with the Caucasian population. Although we cannot rule out that the significance could be due to the differences in sample size between HPG and NPG, the variants could be associated specifically with the vulnerability of the optic nerve to IOP, which is useful for investigating the etiology of glaucoma

Repeated rough coiling technique of portosystemic shunt: A novel treatment for hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) usually occurs in the end stages of cirrhosis. During these stages, portosystemic shunt (PSS) is one cause of severe HE. Previous reports have demonstrated that shunt embolization is effective in cases involving a large PSS. However, embolization is risky in some patients because severe ascites and esophageal varices may result from aggravation of portal hypertension. Herein, we report a case in which intentional flow reduction was repeatedly performed for spleno-renal shunt using 2 flow reduction methods, debranching and the rough coiling technique, for a patient with severe HE for whom embolization of the whole PSS pathway was risky. Complete embolization was finally achieved by repeated flow reduction over 5 sessions. The patient tolerated treatment well with no ascites for 4 years after total embolization. If embolization of the whole PSS puts the patient at risk for refractory HE, repeatable flow reduction might provide a good alternative path to single-step embolization