アクセス　Laboratory of Histopathology and Cytopathology Gunma University Graduate School of Health Sciences

When I arrived at Gunma University, I noticed the following characteristics. I would like to share this with everyone who is viewing this website.

1. The Maebashi metropolitan area where Gunma University is located is not just a local metropolitan area

The Maebashi metropolitan area is a metropolitan area with a population of 1.26 million people. It ranks 11th in the nation as a metropolitan area. The metropolitan area of Gifu City, where I graduated from Gifu University, has a population of approximately 800,000 people, and the Naha metropolitan area of Okinawa, where the University of the Ryukyus, where I have previously worked, has a population of approximately 800,000 people, so I decided to work there. It is the most populated of all the regions. You can also go to Tokyo by local train using the Takasaki Line, and if you change trains at Omiya you can get to Sendai in no time. I find it very convenient as I can access Niigata, Nagano, and Kanazawa in 1 to 2 hours. In the case of airplanes, you can access the airport from Haneda or Narita, but in some cases you can also go to the airport not only by train but also by private car, and since the flights have a wide variety of destinations and a large number of flights, it is easy to reach the airport from all over the country and the world. After coming here, I realized that it is much more convenient to access than Gifu or Okinawa. I feel that having Gunma University in the Kanto Plain is an advantage.

2. Gunma University has 740 beds, and the average number of outpatients per day is 1800-1900, making it a large-scale hospital affiliated with a local national university.
Many patients visit Gunma University for diagnosis and treatment. Due to the large size of the Maebashi metropolitan area, our university has a large number of hospital beds and average number of outpatients per day for a regional national university. I am grateful to be able to study in such an environment. Also, after being assigned to the Kanto region, I was struck by the high density of medical workers. If you attend a federation of academic societies in the Kanto region, you will be surprised to find that it is larger than the Chubu region, Kyushu, and Okinawa regions. In addition to these conferences, national conferences are also often held in the Tokyo Bay area, such as Tokyo, Yokohama, and Makuhari, where you can access a lot of information and have people-to-people exchanges. I also feel that I am in a metropolitan area where I can attend a conference and go home without spending the night.

3. Gunma University School of Medicine's Department of Health Sciences has four majors, with a student capacity of 160 per year, and a large graduate school capacity of 50 and 10 students, and the number of researchers is considered to be among the highest among local national universities. In addition, the Graduate School of Health Sciences is a WHO Multidisciplinary Education and Training Center, and Gunma University is certified as a ``multidisciplinary human resource development joint use center based on medical safety education methods'' in Japan. It has its characteristics.

The Department of Health Sciences is characterized by its large size, with four majors: Nursing, Laboratory Technology, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy. Unlike the medical school, the Department of Health Sciences has many majors, but surprisingly there are not many health departments in national universities that have multiple majors. In terms of size, Gunma University is estimated to be in the top 10 among the health departments and graduate schools of health sciences at national universities nationwide. This size is comparable to that of so-called comprehensive universities. In addition, multi-disciplinary collaboration and a wide range of education and research are being developed, and Gunma University's multi-disciplinary collaborative education is one of its characteristics. For example, the Graduate School of Health Sciences became a WHO collaborating center in July 2013 as a ``Multidisciplinary Collaborative Education and Training Center,'' and from August of this year, our university has been designated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a ``multidisciplinary education and training center based on medical safety education methods''. It has been certified as a "Human Resource Development Shared Use Center", and the Department of Health Sciences plays a part in this. A "shared use center" means that it has been certified as an organization that conducts systematic training for university staff. There are 14 universities across the country that carry out such systematic training for university staff, each serving as a base with a different role. Gunma University has become a joint use center with the keyword of multi-disciplinary collaboration. Personally, I believe that Gunma University's School of Health Sciences and Graduate School of Health Sciences have been focusing on multidisciplinary collaborative education for many years, which has led to this recognition.

4. Gunma University School of Medicine has an independent research institute, and the Graduate School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Health Sciences are located on the same premises. It is a general medical graduate school.

The Graduate School of Health Sciences is located on the same premises as the Graduate School of Medicine and the Institute for Bioregulation, giving it the appearance of a general medical graduate school. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of graduates of laboratory technology majors finding employment in companies or research positions at national universities, and Gunma University is also focusing on graduate school education. As mentioned above, the School of Health Sciences/Graduate School of Health Sciences is comparable in size to a comprehensive university in terms of medical care, and the premises are also shared by the Graduate School of Medicine, the Institute for Bioregulation, and the Hospital Affiliated to the School of Medicine. Since the facilities are all located on the same site, joint research between the facilities is common and active research is being carried out.

5. what we are aiming for

We are located in the Kanto metropolitan area and have a large Department of Health Sciences with four majors, the Graduate School of Health Sciences, the Graduate School of Medicine, the Institute for Bioregulation, and the Hospital Affiliated with the School of Medicine, all on the same site, making us a comprehensive medical school. Taking advantage of the fact that it is a national university with the characteristics of a university, we will enhance not only undergraduate education but also graduate school education, and as a top runner in the Graduate School of Health Sciences, we will focus not only on education but also on research. As a result, we are working to improve the sophistication and diversification of employment.

(Written by: Masanao Saio)