Greeting and General Statement by the Organizer

Regulatory science is growing increasingly important, and the Health and Medical Strategy of the Japanese government reflects this. How regulatory science is covered in pharmaceutical education is an urgent issue. Education on regulatory science is also part of the modified version of the model core curriculum in the six-year pharmaceutical course that was introduced from 2015. The Regulatory Science Task Force of the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, in response to a commission of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, conducted a study on the development of teaching material and educational methods for regulatory science, held a symposium with the participation of pharmaceutical educators in February 2015, and proposed draft teaching material based on the discussions during the symposium. The draft consists of two parts. Part one consists of a general statement on the purpose and definition of regulatory science and explanations of regulatory science with examples in various fields. Part two proposes case methods for participatory education. As the draft was developed in a limited time by a limited number of people, some issues remain to be resolved, such as few pharmacist-related examples for explanation and scenarios for case methods are included. Experts from various fields will make proposals for improving the teaching material, and educators will report on the status of regulatory science education. These issues will then be discussed with the audience. The organizers hope that the symposium will provide an opportunity to deepen our understanding of regulatory science and enhance education in it.