Nippon Medical School

Nippon Medical School is a private medical university in Tokyo. It is the oldest private medical university in Japan, having been founded in 1876.

The university has two campuses. Musashisakai is about 40 minutes west of the city centre and is where first year undergraduate students take courses in basic sciences and liberal arts. The buildings there are shared with the students of Nippon Veterinary and Life Sciences University.

The second through to the sixth year of medical training takes place at the Sendagi campus, which is much closer to central Tokyo and nearby to the university hospital. Sendagi is also home to the university’s graduate school and its International Exchange Centre. Around 50 international students come to Nippon Medical School each year. Final year students at the medical school also have the opportunity to travel abroad to study at one of the institution’s partner universities such as George Washington University and the University of Southern California.

Work to double the size and modernise the university hospital is ongoing and expected to be completed in 2021. The majority of the new buildings were completed in December 2017 and opened to the public in January the following year. The new facilities include 22 operating rooms, five additional storeys and earthquake absorbent architecture.

Some of Nippon Medical School’s research topics include the possibility of dogs sniffing for cancer, the medical benefits of spending time in forests and research into molecular imaging.