Practical Clinical Pharmacy Training through Cooperation between Medical and Pharmaceutical Schools: Resident Faculty-led Practical Training Employing "Age-mixing Method"

In February 2005,Meijo and Nagoya Universities concluded an agreement with Nagoya University Hospital under which a resident faculty is stationed at the hospital.Nine graduate students are assigned to the resident faculty under whose guidance they engage in a variety of activities which include inpatient and outpatient pharmaceutical services under pharmacists and clinical research in collaboration with doctors at Nagoya University Hospital.In addition,our universities conduct practical training for fourth-year students for four-week periods each year from May to July.In 2007,a total of 41 students participated in the practical training at Nagoya University Hospital.Under the guidance of the resident faculty,graduate students instructed the students in activities conducted in hospital wards and the outpatient asthma clinic (we call this“age-mixing”).After the four-week training programs,a questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the participants’views concerning the training schedule,content of the training and the“Age-mixing Method”.The trainees had a favorable impression of the training with many selecting the responses“Our training went very well thanks to the support of the resident faculty”,“We learned a lot form graduate students”,“The Age-mixing Method is very useful for trainees”and“We realized that‘teaching is learning’”.The introduction of the Age-mixing Method not only allowed trainees to learn from graduate students,it also enabled graduate students to review and reinforce their knowledge and skills through teaching.We therefore believe that the Age-mixing Method is useful for both student trainees and graduate students.