[Clinical education trial for pharmaceutical students--medication based practice clinical care]

Pharmacists were officially recognized as essential supporters of medical treatment by the Japanese Ministry of Public Welfare in 1992. However, most pharmacists in Japan do not yet play a sufficient role in their duties. Reasons for the above situation include a lack of social understanding regarding their duties and responsibility for the clinical treatment of patients and a lack of awareness on ensuring safe drug therapy by accepting medication errors in prescription, dispensing and administration. No guidelines to minimize these errors have been initiated either. The School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacology thus introduced a six-year program to address these problems in April, 2006 in Japan. Accordingly the pharmacist is required to play a bigger role in pharmaceutical treatment in the clinical arena. We must provide the highest level of pharmaceutical care possible to patients, medical, nursing and other hospital personnel and develop pharmaceutical students in the clinical arena. Here, I describe the clinical education trial for pharmaceutical students in Saiseikai Matsusaka Hospital.