Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Jikei Institute was established 2 years ago as the first graduate school in Japan to pursue quality and safety in health care. The charter class of 20 students was the first to be awarded a Master’s Degree in Health Care Safety Administration in Japan at the school’s commencement ceremony on March 24, 2013.

 

The charter class included students in their 20s up to students in their 50s, with an average age of 42.5 years old. Students worked during the day as doctors, nurses, public health nurses, midwives, therapists, cli physical nical laboratory technicians, health information managers, care facility managers, or in other health care professions. On weekday evenings and on Saturdays, they came to Jikei Institute to pursue further health care-related studies in health care safety administration, health care management administration, or another areas of health care.

 

The Jikei Institute’s first school principal, Mr. Yukiya Sakamoto, who passed away suddenly on July 22, 2013, said the following in his final address to students: “You have enrolled in this school just after the great earthquake, coming here to investigate thoroughly the preciousness of life and health care safety administration. As the charter class of this institution, we hope to see you become pioneers in Japan pursuing quality and safety in health care amid the growing call for patient safety.

 

In his congratulatory address, Chairperson Ukifune said: “As care becomes more advanced, more specialized, and more complicated, the number of health care-related accidents is on the rise. You are pursuing research as authorities on health care-related accidents. This is an extremely interdisciplinary field, which includes medicine, nursing, and management. Even though this is an academically difficult area, Osaka Jikei Gakuen chose to undertake this challenge, with the enthusiastic support of Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Takeda. And as the first class of the Jikei Institute, your efforts as experts in risk management and safety will be instrumental in determining whether this field of study will become established in the future. And as your alma mater, we at the school are very proud of all of you. I hope that you all achieve success as experts in your field, and that you are able to continue and build upon the research you began with your thesis.”

 

Graduate School of Health Care Sciences, Jikei Institute has inherited the passion and determination of Yukiya Sakamoto, the school’s first principal, and will endeavor to educate experts in health care safety quality and safety.