Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education We devote ourselves to the advancement of medicine and health care through quality assurance of medical education based on global standards To make the quality of medical education in Japan higher Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) The Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) was constituted to strengthen and advance medical education, and to contribute to public health, health care, welfare, and global health, by assuring the quality of medical education in Japan from an international standpoint. To accomplish this mission, the organization is designed to carry out a dispassionate and proper evaluation of medical education programs in Japan, on the basis of the schools’ founding principles and the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Global Standards for Quality Improvement of Medical Education. JACME supports the following initiatives: (1) The establishment and review of medical (5) The publication of official journals and education evaluation criteria. academic books relating to medical education programs. (2) The evaluation of medical education programs. (6) Collaborations with domestic and foreign organizations; the collection of information (3) Education initiatives designed to enhance and about the evaluation of medical education improve medical education programs. in foreign countries. (4) Studies and research to enhance and improve (7) Other activities necessary to achieve the medical education programs. objectives of JACME. President’s Address Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education President Fumimaro Takaku, M.D., Ph.D. At the third meeting of the preparatory committee for establishment of Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) held in July 2015, I was unexpectedly appointed as President of JACME. While it was a great honor for me as someone who had engaged in medical education for a long period of time, I also remember feeling gravity of the responsibility associated with the appointment. In 2010, the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), which issues a certificate for post-graduate clinical training in US to graduates of non-US medical schools, made an announcement that only graduates from medical schools accredited based on the global standards would be eligible for taking the ECFMG examination after 2023. Although this announcement was among the factors which prompted the movement toward establishment of JACME, I believe it is an epoch-making event in the history of medical education in Japan that as many as 80 medical schools throughout the country have jointly started the new organization dedicated for improving the quality of medical education. Before JACME was established, certified evaluation and accreditation had been performed in Japan only for each university as an entire educational institution, but not specifically for the area of medical education. In response to the announcement by ECFMG, designing of the system for evaluating medical education program was initiated and proceeded by the Medical Education Quality Assurance Review Committee (chaired by Dr. Nobuo Nara) of the Association of Japan Medical Colleges and as a part of the University Reform Project by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. During this process, pilot evaluations were performed at totally eighteen medical schools, and the evaluation of Tokyo Medical University held in September 2016 was inspected by three delegate members of World Federation of Medical Education (WFME). After repeated communications and discussions between JACME members, especially those of the General Affaires and Liaison Committee, and the evaluation committee of WFME, JACME was officially recognized on March 18, 2017, as the organization for accrediting the medical education program in Japan. I’d like to thank Dr. Nobuo Nara, full-time director of JACME, and other JACME members for their effort, as well as Tokyo Medical University for the cooperation during the site-visit inspection by WFME. From now on, all of the medical schools in Japan will be formally evaluated by JACME that was recognized by WFME. It is certainly expected that the task and the responsibility of JACME will be increased accordingly. I’d like to conclude my address by sincerely requesting all the medical schools in Japan for further support and cooperation for JACME. To make the quality of medical education in Japan higher JACME evaluates medical schools primarily for two purposes: (1) To ensure that medical schools provide high quality education to benefit society, through the comprehensive evaluation of medical school programs, carried out using evaluation criteria determined by JACME. (2) To help improve medical education by encouraging medical schools to develop and implement improvement plans based on JACME evaluation results. JACME’s accreditation of medical schools must fulfill the following objectives: (1) Evaluate medical schools as an accreditation organization recognized by World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) (2) Evaluate medical schools using internationally accepted criteria. (3) Promote internal quality assurance procedures carried out by individual medical schools. (4) Implement objective and external quality assurance procedures. (5) Endorse improvements in the medical education offered by medical schools. (6) Evaluate improvements. (7) Conduct peer review. The evaluation process Self-inspection and evaluation by the medical school Application for external evaluation and accreditation review Examination of self-inspection and evaluation by evaluators Site visit Making the evaluation report Factual checks by the medical school Final report Accreditation decision Organizational Structure of the Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education (JACME) ■ Board Members ■ Division Heads and Committee Chairs Position Name Affiliation 【General Evaluation Division】 Fumimaro Takaku, President Honorary president , The Japanese Medical Science Federation M.D.,Ph.D. Position Name Affiliation Hajime Arai, President , Juntendo University Head, General Regular Director,Japan M.D.,Ph.D. Chairman of the National Associate of Japan Medical Colleges council Accreditation Council for Medical Evaluation Division Nobuo Education Professor & Director Nara Nobutaro Ban, Chair, Evaluation Specially Appointed Professor, Vice Medical Education Center M.D.,Ph.D. Committee Juntendo University President Aichi Medical University School of Medicine (AMEC) Chair, Standards and Dean, School of Medicine, Masami Bessho, Kiyoshi President, Saitama Medical University Procedures Review International University of Health M.D., Ph.D. Kitamura Committee and Welfare Regular Nobuo Nara, Regular Director,Japan Accreditation Council for Medical Education Chair,Evaluator Miki Director M.D.,Ph.D. Specially Appointed Professor, Juntendo University Professor, Showa University Training Committee Izumi Akira Ogawa, CEO, Iwate Medical University Masahiro President, Chiba Prefectural M.D.,Ph.D. Chair, Appeals Review Committee Tanabe University of Health Sciences Norio Kurumatani, Deen , Nara Medical University M.D.,Ph.D Yasuyuki Suzuki, 【Planning and Administration Division】 President , Japan Society for Medical Education M.D.,Ph.D. Position Name Affiliation Tsutomu Takeuchi, Chief Director, Foundation for the Promotion of Medical Training M.D.,Ph.D. Head, Planning Chairperson, Japanese Association of Private Medical Schools and Administration Professor, The Jikei University Akira Terano, Osamu Chancellor, Dokkyo Group of Academic Institutions School of Medicine M.D.,Ph.D. Division Fukushima Professor emeritus, Dokkyo Medical University Director of Education Chair, Finance Koichi Tomoda, Committee University President, Kansai Medical University M.D.,Ph.D. Chancellor and President , Chair, General Affairs Toshimasa Hironobu Naiki, Tokyo Women's Medical Director Deen , School of Medical Sciences , University of Fukui and Liaison Committee Yoshioka M.D.,Ph.D. University Masayuki Masu, Chair, Research and Michio Professor, Saitama Medical Provost , School of Medicine and Medical Sciences , University of Tsukuba M.D.,Ph.D. Analysis Committee Shiibashi School Masatsugu Moriyama, Chair, Public Relations Toshiya Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University Professor, Niigata University M.D.,Ph.D. Committee Suzuki Ikuko Yamaguchi, Chief Director, NPO: Consumer Organization for Medicine & Law (COML) M.D.,Ph.D. Hidetoshi Yamashita, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University M.D.,Ph.D. Yoshitake Yokokura, President, Japan Medical Association M.D.,Ph.D. Toshimasa Yoshioka, Chancellor and President , Tokyo Women's Medical University M.D.,Ph.D. Yoshitaka Okamura, Chief Director & President, Wakayama Medical University M.D., Ph.D. Hideoki Ogawa, President, Japan Medical Education Foundation Auditor M.D., Ph.D. CEO, Juntendo University Hiroshi Moriyama, Emeritus Professor, The Jikei University School of Medicine M.D.,Ph.D. ■ Member List Regular Members of JACME are the deans or presidents of universities and colleges who assent to the business of JACME, and representatives of organizations supporting the development of medical doctors. ■ Members ・Universities and Colleges School of Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University Hokkaido University Sapporo Medical University Hirosaki University School of Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Iwate Medical University Tohoku University