The Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Municipal University, and OPExPARK, a company that promotes digital transformation in medical education, have jointly launched a surgical education course for overseas doctors. By increasing the opportunities for overseas doctors to study in Japan, the initiative will develop into an effort to brand domestic hospitals and promote an international patient referral system.
Japan boasts a high level of medical care in Asia, and the high level of health and medical care can be seen in the results of a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on average life expectancy and healthy life expectancy in key Asian countries (Report on the FY 4 Project to Promote the International Deployment of Medical Technology, etc.).
For this reason, it is assumed that there is a high demand for people from overseas to come to Japan for surgical education; however, there are many challenges, such as spatial limitations on the hosting side, cumbersome administrative procedures for long-term stays, and the ability to speak English, making it difficult for Japanese medical institutions to fully meet the demand.
Therefore, OPExPARK has started offering "OPe-Academy," a short-term surgery observation course attendance service that incorporates online educational support. By making it a hybrid format with e-learning, such as by allowing viewing of educational videos by experts, it is possible to streamline the observation cycle, and by providing full support for administrative procedures, it aims to reduce the burden on hospitals.
The first service is "NEUROSURGICAL EXPERTISE AND PRACTICE" held in collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery at Osaka Municipal University. Professor Emeritus of Osaka Municipal University and Special Advisor to Naniwa Ikuno Hospital, Kodokai, will serve as the course advisor, and Professor Takeo Goto of the Department of Neurosurgery at Osaka Municipal University will serve as the course coordinator. The course will run for about four months from December 1 to March 2024.
OPExPARK distributes surgical education video content for doctors with the aim of creating a world where people can enjoy the best surgery anywhere. To date, with the cooperation of over 60 domestic neurosurgeons, it has distributed approximately 180 pieces of surgical education content both domestically and internationally.
