We have a central role in dermatological service throughout Kochi Prefecture, with the support of many people. We are able to provide excellent medical care in Kochi Prefecture thanks to not only the doctors from other medical departments at the university, but also the doctors from dermatology clinics and various other departments outside the university, as well as other medical/co-medical staff. Based on “evidence-based medicine (EBM)”, we support with each patient and do our best to satisfy patient. The average number of outpatients per day is over 100, the number of inpatients is about 13 per day, the number of surgeries per year is more than 200, and although it is located in a rural area, the scale and quality of its medical care is similar to universities in urban areas. We provide medical services from common skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and alopecia to malignant tumors such as squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma, and collagen disease. We treat a wide variety of diseases, including designated intractable diseases such as autoimmune bullous diseases.

In recent years, dermatology has made dramatic advances academically. Looking at the history of Japanese people receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the award was given to Dr. Shinya Yamanaka in 2012 for his iPS cells created from skin fibroblasts, and the award given to Dr. Satoshi Omura in 2015 for his ivermectin, which was applied to the treatment of scabies, and Dr. Tasuku Honjo’s immune checkpoint inhibition, which won the award in 2018, has begun to be applied clinically to the treatment of cutaneous malignant melanoma. In addition to the Nobel Prize, basic research and clinical research in various fields in dermatology are being linked and developing. Therefore, in education, we believe that it is necessary to follow not only the current textbooks and guidelines but also the latest information on EBM in an appropriate and attractive manner. The goal of pre-graduate education is to examine the pathophysiological and pathological background of common skin disease, and to be able to think logically and diagnose them. At the same time, during bed-side learning period, students talk with patients and place more emphasis on communicating people than just diagnosing diseases. In postgraduate education, we aim to further refine our diagnostic abilities, develop treatment strategies based on EBM, be able to treat all skin diseases, and acquire complete ethics as real medical professionals. In addition, we would like more residents to become a certificated dermatologist, but to have subspecialties such as oncology, allergies, and beauty. I believe that dermatologists with these subspecialties, as leaders in dermatology, are needed to raise the level of dermatology in Japan, not just in our affiliated hospitals of Kochi Prefecture. Until now, Department of Dermatology of Kochi Medical School has conducted world-class research. That is mainly basic research related to psoriasis, but clinical research such as measuring biomarkers is also being conducted. Kochi University has unique facilities, such as the Center for Photodynamic Medicine, and the Marine Core Research Institute. In the future, the Kochi University Dermatology Department will conduct a lot of research with free ideas, maintain the high level of basic research and clinical research, promote collaboration with these institutions, and do furthermore. We also aim to develop new treatments for various skin diseases through industry-academia collaboration with companies and facilities around the world.

If you visit us, we will be able to tell you more about the wonderful charm of our department. Please feel free to contact us. We sincerely look forward to meeting you.