A consideration of the cultural differences in the undergraduate medical curriculum of the West and Asia: Reflections triggered by observations made at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU)

Abstract

I participated in an international fellowship exchange program at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) in Pennsylvania, USA. Through this fellowship, I was able to obtain an overview of the undergraduate medical curriculum taught at this university. Although I have contemplated the differences between medical education at TJU and the syllabus taught in Japan, I caution that one cannot directly transfer the components of TJU program to universities in Japan because of the dissimilar cultural contexts of Western countries and Asian nations. I believe that the focus of undergraduate medical education requires careful consideration of specific socio-cultural backgrounds.

Keywords

• cultural difference
• undergraduate medical curriculum
• wellbeing