Peer Learning and Peer Support

Peer Learning and Peer Support are traditional initiatives at Ritsumeikan in which students learn from each other, both in regular class time and in extracurricular activities. In the Department of Pharmacy (6-Year Program) of the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, as a part of the Peer Support initiative, a Ph.A (Pharma Assistant) program has been introduced, involving 5th and 6th Year students offering guidance and support in class to 1st and 2nd Year students. Due to the small intakes of approximately 160 per year, students in the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences are very close to each other, transcending the barrier of year levels. Leveraging these strong bonds, in AY2015, the Department of Pharmacy introduced a practical experience program in which 6th Year students, as Ph.As, take on the role of lecturers in the “Pharmaceutical Basic Seminar” for 1st Year students.

Communication Seminar

Students who want to become pharmacists need to have advanced communication skills as healthcare professionals, so they can build relationships of trust with patients and with other members in team-based medical care. The subject, “Communication Seminar,” delivered in 1st Year in the Department of Pharmacy, aims for students to gain knowledge, techniques, and practical skills in basic interpersonal communication, as a first-step or introduction to mastering such advanced communication skills.

Applied Pharmacy Exercise

The subject, “Pharmaceutical Advanced Seminar” delivered in 2nd Year of the Department of Pharmacy, aims to deepen students’ understanding of healthcare and welfare services in the community as people who will one day work in actual healthcare settings. This is done through exercises such as “medical assistance in disasters,” “handicap experience (wheelchair, impaired vision),” “welfare facility visit,” “dialogue with patients suffering harmful side effects of a medicine or drug,” and “human body autopsy practicum.” In the wheelchair part of the “handicap experience,” students will experience operating a wheelchair, boarding and alighting an elevator, and climbing up and down staircases with assistance. In the impaired vision experience, students will don an eye mask and walk with a white cane, climb up and down staircases, and experience what it is like to read and write with Braille. The College of Pharmaceutical Sciences offers an environment in which, from the early years of the course, students will develop a perspective as pharmacists that is rooted in actual society.

In the Project classes, students set their own project theme, explore their own thoughts about that theme, and communicate their findings. In 1st and 2nd Year, they select themes that interest them from their own daily lives, extracurricular activities, and classes. 3rd Year students select themes from their fields of specialization and undertake projects of a more academic nature. These classes are not organized by skill level. In the Skills Workshop classes, students develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The skills they develop in these classes are put to good use in the Project classes in the exchange of opinions and information, presentations, and academic writing. These classes are organized by skill level. If students want to participate in international projects in the future, they need to be able to utilize digital media. All class activities in both the Project and Skills Workshop classes are posted online using Web course tools and other digital tools. The ultimate goals of these English programs are for graduating students to achieve the specific outcomes of (1) summarizing the main points of their graduation thesis in English and presenting it orally as part of their graduation research, and (2) achieving a TOEIC score of over 600.

Science & Technology Program

The Science and Technology Program is a study abroad program for the lower year levels conducted jointly by the College of Life Sciences, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Sport and Health Science, and College of Comprehensive Psychology. The aims of this program are to improve students’ English language abilities and to study cutting-edge science and technology fields in English. The classes center on group work and presentations, through which it is hoped students will improve their pronunciation and presentation skills. This is a very fulfilling program, in which, once a week, the students visit a laboratory or research facility on campus or a local company, where they can encounter cutting-edge research. Outside class, various events are planned for Ritsumeikan students to interact with the UC Davis students, during which they can put the English they have learned into practice while having fun.