Graduate School of Human Health Sciences
The Graduate School of Human Health Sciences is comprised of six departments in Nursing Sciences, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Radiological Sciences, Frontier Health Sciences (all of which are on the Arakawa Campus), and Health Promotion Sciences (Minami-Osawa Campus). The graduate school accommodates various types of research, ranging from basic research that uses physiological techniques, to clinical research and field surveys, and adapts to the specific needs of graduate students by offering classes and seminars in the evenings and on weekends.
Department of Nursing Sciences
With a specific focus on the people who live in large cities and on promoting community health, this department contributes to the health of individuals and groups through education and research in the nursing sciences as it strives to improve quality of life and to achieve a vibrant and long-lived society.
The master’s program offers master’s thesis courses in the following fields: nursing ethics and management, reproductive health nursing, child health nursing, adult health nursing, medical life support nursing, community mental health nursing, home care nursing, international nursing/medical anthropology, public health nursing, and midwifery. There are certified nurse specialist courses for child health nursing. The doctoral program cultivates individuals who can serve as leaders in the fields of the nursing sciences and public health. The programs in this department are known for their cultivation of advanced, specialized knowledge of nursing ethics, as well as skills of discernment; for their development of theories and methods related to the care provided to mothers, children, and elderly patients with dementia in communities and health care institutions; for their support in empowering community residents and student volunteers; and for their cultivation of the skills needed for the development of nursing care systems implemented in partnership with the government.
Department of Physical Therapy
This department is divided into three research programs: Motor Impairment Analysis and Physical Therapy (Pediatric Physical Therapy, Impairment prevention Physical Therapy, Internal impairment Physical Therapy, Cognitive kinesiology, and Nervous system impairment Physical Therapy), Physical Function Recovery Physical Therapy (Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, Musculoskeletal system Physical Therapy, and Adapted sports Physical Therapy, Woman’s and Men’s Health Physical Therapy), and Community-Based Physical Therapy.
The department develops active research activities and cultivates advanced, specialized practitioners and researchers with the creative skills and adaptability needed in Physical Therapy. In addition, in order to gain the Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapy（OMPT）, there is a manual therapy course.
The department promotes systematic and comprehensive learning of physiotherapeutic knowledge and techniques related to health and impairments, as well as scientific thought processes. It also promotes research and development on advanced physiotherapeutic techniques related to physical impairment prevention and function recovery from developmental or chronic diseases or lifestyle diseases, and research on promoting the health management and social participation of people in their local communities. Because both day and evening classes are offered, students can gain experience as medical professionals, such as physical therapists, during the day, and can use that experience in the evening to conduct research on Physical Therapy. This arrangement allows for the organic development of both clinical experience and research. Many enrolled graduate students actively attend domestic and international academic society meetings and give presentations on their research findings.
Department of Occupational Therapy
The Department of Occupational Therapy’s theme is the health of people living in large cities. The department aims to contribute to people’s health and to realizing a vibrant long-lived society. Its research and educational activities are organized into the following three sub-themes.
Occupational therapy science for people's mental and physical functions consists of four areas: cognitive occupational therapy, occupational therapy for people with brain dysfunction, occupational therapy for children and adolescents, and elderly psychological behavior analysis. The aim of this sub-theme is to conduct area research, including interdisciplinary and integrated approaches, on people's physical functions, psychiatry and psychology, and child development.
The study of occupation consists of four areas: occupational behavior, occupational science, mental health occupational therapy, and community-based occupational therapy for the elderly. The aim of this sub-theme is to explore the potential of occupational therapy through application in field practice, the yielding of evidence, and the understanding of ‘occupation’ and its related models and theories.
Occupation and living environment study consists of four areas: occupational life design studies, occupational performance analysis, assistive technology and application of assistive products, and analyses and adaptation of living environments.
The aim of this sub-theme is to clarify how the various environmental features, such as physical, human, policy, natural, and cultural features, obstruct or promote people's occupational participation and to explore means of enriching people's lives.
Department of Radiological Sciences
By teaching specialized knowledge of radiology and findings related to the most recent technologies, this department aims (1) to cultivate advanced radiological professionals who can apply creative and scientific thought processes, and (2) to cultivate individuals who not only have advanced knowledge and skills in their own field of specialization, but who also understand research findings in other fields and are able to develop advanced medical technologies by integrating that information.
In the master’s program, field in the Dept. of radiological sciences have adopted a comprehensive curriculum that takes into account the potential enrollment of students with undergraduate backgrounds in science and engineering and students from other graduate schools. Also, efforts are made to foster the development of medical physicists certified by the Japanese Board for Medical Physicist Qualification (JBMP).
Classes consist of lectures and workshops based on the research findings of the instructor and the latest research trends, and they aim to impart the most up-to-date findings to students.
A full range of experiments and research can be conducted thanks to the ample availability of lab and research equipment on campus, including diagnostic equipment such as an X-ray CT (multi detector row computed tomography, MDCT), a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device, a computed radiography (CR) device, a flat panel detector (FPD), and a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) device, as well as radiological therapy equipment such as an unsealed radioactive isotope (RI) facility and a medical linear accelerator (LINAC).
This department strives to develop cutting-edge therapeutic technologies, medical imaging processing technologies, and radiation measurement methods.
Department of Frontier Health Sciences
We approach issues in human health sciences at the level of molecules, cells, organs, or individuals in line with a strategy of interdisciplinary and innovative basic research in areas such as life sciences, basic medicine and public health.
Our Department consists of 3 regular programs and 1 endowed program. (1) Functional Morphology involves research in 3 areas: research on the morphology and location of the viscera and autonomic nerves and clinical applications, research on the physiological mechanisms of accumulation of visceral fat, and analysis of pancreatic pathologies such as pancreatic cancer, (2) Muscle physiology involves research related to the structure and function of the contractile apparatus in myocytes that maintain their structure, (3) Evaluation of Public Health Efforts involves research primarily in designing quantitative studies, methodologies for epidemiological studies, and techniques to generate health statistics to evaluate aspects of care provided by nurses seeking to benefit the community, and (4) Healthcare Innovation involves research and development of the sensitive and specific chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassays of biomarkers such as certain hormones and proteins to enable early and accurate diagnosis in relation to the lifestyle-related diseases and cancers which require high medical expenses. In order to promote education and research, we readily and organically collaborate with other disciplines. We foster researchers and educators who are adept at conducting interdisciplinary and innovative basic research as well as practical specialists with a wide breadth of learning and advanced research skills.
Department of Health Promotion Sciences
The Department of Health Promotion Sciences strives to equip students with specialized knowledge of human beings and health, as well as advanced problem solving skills, through basic and applied research related to health maintenance and improvement. The department’s goal is to cultivate advanced specialists with a wide range of knowledge and independent researchers who can communicate with people not only in their own field of specialization, but also with people in other disciplines. There are some extremely complicated factors underlying the various problems related to human health. Solving those problems is going to require an understanding of those factors, the ability to grasp the overall picture of the situation created through interdisciplinary investigations in a variety of fields, and an explanation of the action mechanisms of the constituent factors. Health promotion
science seeks to explore basic principles and truths in relation to issues concerning the promotion of mental and physical health from various perspectives including sports science, life science, and cognitive science. This field also seeks to create and promote new health sciences based on a multidisciplinary understanding.
