[The Role of Undergraduate Education in Graduate School Education]

As recent medical residents tend to be more enthusiastic toward obtaining board certification rather than a doctorate of research, many graduate schools have made various attempts to ensure the number of enrollees. This paper considers the role of undergraduate education in graduate school education. The practice of medical research is part of the curriculum in many medical schools. Although such a program is useful for providing an opportunity to experience actual research for all students, the most important purpose is to identify students who have an aptitude and motivation for medical research. Continuous support based on a selective curriculum, such as long-term research practice, may guide these students toward research activities after graduation. In undergraduate education, it is also important to expose students to favorable role models who elicit students' admiration. Students firstly experience a clinical setting in their clerkship, and see their faculty while working as a physician. Exposure to favorable role models in the clinical clerkship makes students long to become the role model and choose their career. It is therefore important to have good researchers as role models and suggest the career path of a researcher to students in undergraduate education.