The Faculty of Health and Welfare Science
Admission policy
The Faculty of Health and Welfare science accepts "students with an aptitude to become workers in health, medical care and welfare-related jobs, with a spirit of independence, a desire to contribute to society, and a readiness to work hard towards the realization of their personal and professional goals.
Departmental Structure
As of April 2016, the Faculty of Health and Welfare science is comprised of 4 departments; the Department of Nutritional Sciences, which trains administrative dietitians, the Department of Nursing, which trains nurses (and optionally, community health nurses), the Department of Social Welfare, which trains social workers and special-needs school teachers, and the Department of Early Childhood Care and Education, which trains childcare professionals.
For more detailed information, see the sections for each department.
Educational Policies
With consideration for the characteristics of each of the four departments, the legacy of the Junior College that preceded them, and the central role of the university in the local community, the three fundamental policies of education at Nayoro City University are as follows:
(1) The promotion of interprofessional education
Comprehensive support services are required in the fields of health, medical care, and welfare. This is to say that users require services to be delivered, not from a single professional point of view, but from the multiple viewpoints of related fields. Because this is carried out by a team of people from related professions, it is essential that team members understand not only their own roles, but those of their teammates as well. In such situations, mutual support comes from a spirit of cooperation and collaboration that equates with partnership. Without this, a truly organic and effective team cannot exist. In order to foster this partnership and educate individuals with a broad understanding of the fields of health, medical care and welfare, students are required to complete interprofessional and interdepartmental courses in addition to those required for their own selected fields of study. The goal of these subjects is to deepen mutual understanding of what students have learned in their respective departments, and to cultivate an awareness of and appreciation for cooperation and collaboration between the fields of health, medical care, and welfare at an early stage.
(2) Small class sizes
Small class sizes have been most highly valued at this university since its days as a Junior College. In smaller classes, the personalities of each student are closely observed, and efforts are made to match instruction and achievement expectations to individual interests and objectives. With this as the foundation, we nurture occupational professionals who are skilled, in practice, at providing support services to users as individuals.
(3) Community-based education
Students wishing to work in the fields of health, medical care or social welfare learn much on their own through interaction with and experiences within their local communities. Even a single experience can often lead to a deeper awareness and understanding of the profession to which the learner aspires and a stronger motivation to attain one’s goals. Fortunately, the local community in the small city of Nayoro is easily accessible. Additionally, instructional activities that actively and positively engage the local community are developed to provide students with further opportunities for study through experience-based learning and volunteer activities.
The curriculum
The goal of our university is to nurture occupational professionals skilled at providing users with personalized, individual support services. To that end, the university curriculum consists fundamentally of two course groups; those that develop the specialized knowledge and skills required of the student’s chosen field of study, and those general education courses that develop a broader knowledge of culture and society. Furthermore, within the former group, faculty-wide interprofessional courses and shared-content, inter-departmental courses form two course sub-groups. These latter courses have the specific aims of cultivating the ability to cooperate, in practice, with members of related health, medical, and social welfare fields and of developing a wider professional perspective. This is the most important characteristic of this university’s curriculum.
In addition, a teacher-training programme leading to acquisition of a teaching certificate is offered as a separate course option in both the Nutritional Sciences and Social Welfare Departments.
