The Physical Therapy course is divided into two disciplines: Clinical Physical Therapy and Community Physical Therapy. Students will study specialized subjects divided into each selected discipline, but all students will be required to take special master’s courses on public health and medicine statistics and team medical care, and a special exercises with team medical approach, regardless of their field or discipline. There are also seven common subjects that can be studied across the two disciplines of physical therapy. In the clinical physical therapy discipline, clinical thinking processes must be developed in order to probe for clinical problems and make correct clinical judgments. Hence, we provide education that increases the corresponding clinical reasoning abilities. In addition, we provide education and research guidance on the development of evaluation indexes, the development of treatment methods, and the construction of evidence from new perspectives such as evaluations involving the individuality of subjects and evaluations to extract factors that hinder movement and lifestyle. Through the community physical therapy, we plan to promote efforts to work in collaboration with neighboring local governments, while adapting to new medical and nursing care systems. Courses are set up in such a way that students are always aware of the wider perspective of local rehabilitation and the framework of local physical therapy, and education and guidance are provided to create a foundation for providing local physical therapy services with a broader perspective. In addition, students are provided the education and research guidance to lay a foundation for considering what kind of system would benefit the public in the new medical/nursing care system, and what it means to be an effective service.
Chairperson of the department: Shigeyuki Imura
(Internal Disorders Physical Therapy and Central Nervous System Physical Therapy/Doctor (Physical Education))
| Department | Program | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Physical therapy | Master’s course | Master (Physical Therapy) |
Chief Instructor in charge and educational research fields
| Fields | Disciplines | Chief Instructor | Main research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapy | Clinical physical therapy | Professor Shigeyuki Imura | 1. Research on physical therapy of internal disorders with focus on respiratory disorders 2. Research on physical therapy of central nervous system with a focus on stroke-related disorders (including robotics) |
| Professor Tsutomu Kobayashi | 1. Research on prevention of baseball shoulder and elbow disorders 2. Evaluation of musculoskeletal disorders using ultrasonic elastography |
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| Professor Nobuyuki Takeuchi | 1. Research on biological responses to physical stimuli and research on result-oriented physical therapy approach 2. Research on pathological analysis, clinical evaluation, and therapeutic intervention for muscle tone 3. Research on risk management in the field of physical therapy |
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| Associate Professor Daisuke Higuchi | 1. Figuring out the disorder mechanisms of people with musculoskeletal illnesses and how to improve their QOL (quality of life) 2. Research to pursue physical therapy for people with chronic pain 3. Research to improve physical therapy education (especially clinical training) |
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| Lecturer Yusuke Chigira | 1. Research on physical therapy for internal disorders (respiration, circulation, metabolism) 2. Basic research on the effects of strength training 3. Effects of the various internal and external factors on muscle performance and muscle endurance |
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| Lecturer Hitomi Ubukata | 1. Basic research using ultrasonic diagnostic equipment 2. Research on evaluation and development of exercise methods for Stress Urinary Incontinence |
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| Community physical therapy | Professor Satoshi Tanaka | 1. Research on community rehabilitation and community development for elderly people with dementia 2. Research on the combined effects of Pharmacotherapy and rehabilitation for patients with intractable neurological diseases 3. Research on cognitive functions and rehabilitation of hospitalized patients returning home to help them resume their daily activities |
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| Professor Takeshi Kera | 1. Analysis of the causes of frailty in the local elderly (frailty and sarcopenia) 2. Research on Exercise Physiology (mainly respiratory function) |
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| Associate Professor Kazumasa Nakagawa | 1. Research on prevention of motor organ and sports injuries 2. Research on improving physical strength of local residents 3. Research on physical therapy and medical/public health education |
Education Policy
Diploma Policy (DP)
a. Be enrolled for the specified period or longer, acquire 30 or more credits, and fulfill the following four requirements in the course of their study.
- As an advanced medical specialist in the field of physical therapy, the student can contribute to the development of preventive physical therapy and community rehabilitation.
- Students have a wide range of knowledge and sense of ethics in the field of physical therapy, and can serve as a team leader in a community or clinical setting.
- As educators or researchers, students can contribute to the development of physical therapy by applying their expertise and research skills to education and research.
- The expertise and research skills acquired in the master’s program can improve actual practices in the fields of public health and physical therapy.
b. Obtain necessary research guidance, complete the examination and presentation of master’s thesis, pass the final exam. The final Dissertation Review Criteria and final examination criteria for the master’s program in the Department of Physical Therapy are as follows:
[Dissertation Review Criteria]
- Student has a clear awareness of what the problems are, and has appropriately defined a research topic.
- Student has thoroughly studied the prior research papers.
- Student has used research methods suitable to the research goals.
- Student has written the paper adequately and appropriately, with a consistent logical framework leading to the conclusion.
- There are no ethical issues involved in conducting the research and disclosing results.
- The student has gained a new insight, and has contributed to public health and physical therapy.
- Any work submitted to a journal related to public health and physical therapy is at an appropriate level for being published.
[Final Test Criteria]
- Student has expertise, rich insights, and a sense of ethics with regards to the research subjects.
- Through the subject research, the student will mention what contributions his study has made to public health and physical therapy science, as well as to public health and physical therapy practice.
- Student strongly intends to publicize the research results.
- Student is expected to play an active role as an advanced medical professional or an education/research professional.
Curriculum Policy (CP)
- With 11 common courses in 2 majors, 3 fields, and 6 disciplines of the Graduate School of Public Health and Medicine, and 3 mandatory courses, you can interact with students from other fields and learn about their specialties while exploring your own, as well as put together a curriculum that promotes team medical care.
- Among the two disciplines in the field of physical therapy (clinical physical therapy and community physical therapy), there are seven cross-discipline courses. “Research ethics and physical therapy research methods” is required, and the electives are three specialized courses for each discipline. The curriculum is thus organized in such a way that students can learn the information they need from other disciplines as well.
- The specialized courses in each discipline are provided in two stages: basic and applied, combining special themes and exercises from each discipline. The curriculum is organized to encourage specific research with practical topics serving as research topics. Students are provided the opportunity to investigate and present independently to encourage objective thinking, flexibly incorporating the opinions of others, and solving the problems by collaborating with other students. This is conducive for improving education and research skills.
- In order to make it possible for the medical professionals who are working adults to study and work at the same time, lectures will be offered at night and on Saturdays to create an environment where students can choose between a 2-year and 3-year course.
Educational goals
- Train the physical therapists who can function as leaders in building community rehabilitation systems and developing human resources to solve the challenges of community medical care.
- Train highly-practiced physical therapy specialists with advanced knowledge and skills in physical therapy, and who can act as a key person in team medical care in cooperation with other medical professionals.
- Train educators who train physical therapists and researchers who can contribute to the advancement of physical therapy.
Knowledge and skills to be acquired
- Students acquire logical and ethical thinking skills for solving physical therapy practice issues centered on preventive physical therapy, research techniques necessary to work on building evidence and solving challenges, basic knowledge of research, and practical research skills.
- In clinical physical therapy practice and community physical therapy practice, students are trained to accurately analyze and evaluate patient problems and community challenges, and integrate expertise and technology to solve the challenges.
- Students acquire management skills to qualitatively enhance and advance physical therapy in clinical and community practice, and self-development skills through objective thinking.
Entrance examination outline
| Name | Years to master | Enrollment capacity | Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Physical Therapy | 2 years | 3 | Master (Physical Therapy) |
* The capacity of 3 people includes working adults.
* In addition to ordinary daytime students, classes are also available at night and on weekends to accommodate working adults.
Admission Policy
Master’s Course in Physical Therapy
- We look forward to enrolling highly motivated students who will be active while eagerly sharing information within the local?medical environment even after graduation, as highly practiced professionals who will play a central role in team medical care.
- We look forward to enrolling students who will actively collect evidence and consider how to implement next-generation physical therapy services, putting those ideas into practice, as leaders in community rehabilitation.
- We look forward to enrolling students who are eager to become educators and researchers who want to contribute to the further development of physical therapy.
- We look forward to enrolling working adults who have a clear understanding of issues and their own ideas for solving problems, while they continue working in the community as physical therapists.
* The term “working adult” refers to a person who is employed at a workplace such as a regional health care institution or nursing facility, or one who has found employment and is scheduled to start work.