Interprofessional Education Initiatives at Gunma University: Simulated Interprofessional Training for Students of Various Health Science Professions

The School of Health Sciences (the “School”) of the Gunma University has a mandate to train and produce advanced, high-quality health professionals. To enhance collaboration among health professionals and to overcome the fragmented nature of specialized medicine, the School has developed a curriculum based fundamentally on holistic medicine and interprofessional work (IPW). The major advantage of the curriculum lies in its training program-simulated interprofessional training—where students work in groups and undergo a series of activities, including group discussions, clinical training at facilities, general meetings, and reporting. This “teamwork training” is the core subject of the education. Its concept is first shared and discussed during the first year of the curriculum, and training is introduced to the third-year students from all departments of the School. All academic staff help implement the training in cooperation with approximately 20 external health care facilities. The training is evaluated every year, and both students and academic staff have evaluated it positively. This “teamwork training” has been in practice for 9 years now. As medical knowledge has expanded and technology advanced, changes have taken place in IPW at clinical settings. To respond to this, deliberate efforts are being made, including: (1) use of updated case scenarios; (2) participation of students from the School of Medicine; and (3) networking for interprofessional education with external medical facilities and other universities.