Division of Health SciencesGraduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University

School of Health SciencesCollege of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University

The demand for physical and occupational therapists has been growing in recent years. There is a pressing need to develop educators, researchers, and bioengineering experts with high-level knowledge and skills to play leading roles in these fields. Our research focuses on the locomotor functions of the extremities and trunk, higher-brain, and nervous system functions that control our daily activities, including standing, sitting, moving, and arm-hand motions. Rehabilitation science differs from conventional medicine, classified by organs and systems and concerned with vital functions for maintaining people’s life. However, like medical science, rehabilitation science is supported by basic medical research. For this reason, basic research is also an essential element of this field, combined with other features such as developing and researching therapeutic technology and evaluation methods.

The Master’s program in rehabilitation science consists of the following three aim branches: (1) Forming physical therapists and occupational therapists with high-level expert clinical skills, (2) Forming professionals to master one of these fields capable of practicing clinically as a professional while continuing with clinical research divulging through presentations at professional conferences and scientific papers, and (3) Forming researchers who have learned research methods with the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP; the practice of physical and occupational therapy based on findings accumulated through basic research) and capable of writing scientific papers (preparation for the Doctoral program which may follow the Master’s program). This graduate course has two sub-groupings: Department of Physical Therapy (Field of Impairment Analysis) and Department of Occupational Therapy (Field of Human Ability and Recovery Science).