J Korean Med Sci.

2019 Jan 21;34(3):e18

https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18
eISSN 1598-6357·pISSN 1011-8934

Special Article
Editing, Writing &
Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing
Publishing Skills of Non-Anglophone Medical
Students: a Model of Training Course

l
Edward Barroga and Hiroshi Mitoma

a
Department of Medical Education, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

Received: Sep 5, 2018

Accepted: Oct 17, 2018
ABSTRACT

o n
i
Address for Correspondence: There are currently very limited reports on the strengths and weaknesses of Japanese medical

is
Edward Barroga, PhD students in processing (i.e., searching, reading, synthesizing, writing, editing, refining)
Department of Medical Education, and presenting medical content based on scholarly journal articles. We developed and
Tokyo Medical University Hospital, 6-7-1

v
offered a 3-week group independent research course in English as a summer elective named

l
Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023,
Japan.
“Improving Medical English Skills and Creating English Medical Content (PPT and video)

o a
E-mail: barrogas@gmail.com Based on Medical Journal Articles” to our fourth-year Japanese medical students who follow a

r
6-year medical curriculum as the target audience. Herein, we describe the specific strengths

n
© 2019 The Korean Academy of Medical
and weaknesses of 6 students who chose and completed the course. Thereafter, we assessed
Sciences.

P
the possible reasons underlying these weaknesses, pondered on the potential implications

o
This is an Open Access article distributed
of such weaknesses on the critical thinking, logical reasoning, and communication skills

i
under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial License (https:// of Japanese medical students, and suggested approaches to further enhance these skills.

is
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) The assessments, implications, and suggestions given may provide medical educators
which permits unrestricted non-commercial new insights on how to newly organize educational and clinical programs to address such
use, distribution, and reproduction in any
weaknesses, improve searching, reading, writing, editing, and presentation skills, enhance

v
medium, provided the original work is properly
cited. critical thinking and logical reasoning abilities, and gain in-depth knowledge essential for

o
effectively appraising and communicating medical content.
ORCID iDs

r
Edward Barroga Keywords: Communication Skills; Critical Thinking; Editing; Journal Article;
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8920-2607 Scientific Writing

P
Hiroshi Mitoma
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0513-1811

Disclosure
The authors have no potential conflicts of
INTRODUCTION
interest to disclose.
Despite the increasing need of medical students for English courses or programs on
Author Contributions processing and presenting medical content based on scholarly journal articles in countries
Conceptualization: Barroga EF, Mitoma H. like Japan, Korea, and China, such courses or programs remain scarce. In other non-
Methodology: Barroga EF, Mitoma H. Writing-
Anglophone countries, such courses are not even available. Moreover, strong evidence is
original draft: Barroga EF. Writing - review &
editing: Barroga EF, Mitoma H. lacking to support specific course formats and contents that enhance critical thinking, logical
reasoning, and communication skills of non-Anglophone medical students.

In our efforts to produce more of these courses for medical students in Japan who follow a
6-year medical curriculum (i.e., first-year to sixth-year students), we developed and offered
a 3-week group independent research course in English to our fourth-year Japanese medical

https://jkms.org 1/11
Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

students as the target audience. This served as an elective for their required undergraduate
summer research program which is usually conducted in Japanese. The course name was
“Improving Medical English Skills and Creating English Medical Content (PPT and video)
Based on Medical Journal Articles.” Six students chose and completed the course.

In this article, we reflected on how the students performed during the course. Particularly,
we aimed to 1) describe the specific strengths and weaknesses of the students at each stage
of the 3-week course, 2) assess the possible reasons underlying these weaknesses, 3) identify
the potential implications of such weaknesses on the critical thinking, logical reasoning, and

l
communication (writing and speaking) skills of Japanese medical students, and 4) suggest
ways to further enhance these skills in non-Anglophone medical students.

n a
OBJECTIVES OF THE THREE-WEEK RESEARCH COURSE

o
This medical English course was conceptualized in reference to our previous works on

i
editing, writing, presenting, and publishing.1-3 The course aimed to improve skills in

is
understanding English medical journal articles, drafting and editing the slide presentation
and oral script on a chosen topic based on synthesized information from the journal articles,

v
learning how to create online video educational materials from the slide presentation, and

l
delivering the presentation.

r o a
The core activities in each stage of the course involved searching, reading, critical thinking of,

n
synthesizing, logical reasoning of, writing, editing, e-learning publishing of, and presenting

P
medical content based on the selected journal articles.

i
STRUCTURE OF THE THREE-WEEK RESEARCH COURSE
o
as follows:

v is
The course consisted of four sequential stages of cognitive engagement with specific aims

o
1) Stage I involved the identification of a medical research topic by each group of 2
students. This was followed by the selection of the theme and the comprehension of

r
related English medical journal articles searched from online indexing databases for the

P
group topic. This stage aimed to increase the students' skills in reading, comprehend-
ing, and integrating information from the articles.
2) Stage II consisted of creating a slide presentation for the research topic based on the
selected medical articles, receiving feedback on the slide presentation from the faculty
supervisor, and making initial revisions. This stage aimed to improve the students'
proficiency in organizing, writing, editing, revising, and presenting their content after
synthesizing information from the articles.
3) Stage III included receiving feedback on the presentation content from faculty experts in our
university, preparing a 10-point quiz based on the presentation content, developing video
educational materials from the slide presentation, making the final revisions, and uploading
the educational materials online in our university e-learning website. This stage aimed to
enhance the students' skills in developing and uploading video educational materials online.
4) Stage IV involved the presentation of the educational materials using the slide presen-
tation created by each group, and summation and course recap. This stage aimed to
enhance the students' presentation and communication skills.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 2/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

The details of Stages I, II, III, and IV are shown in Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Each stage
consisted of various core academic activities. Under each core academic activity, a descriptive
observation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese medical students was provided.

E-portfolio was used for feedback at each core academic activity. Camtasia (TechSmith, Okemos,
MI, USA), a screen recording and video editing software, and Xerte (University of Nottingham,
Nottingham, UK), an open source software for authoring learning objects, were used for
uploading the slide presentation with narration and the developed quizzes, respectively.

MEDICAL CONTENT

a l
MAIN STRENGTHS WHEN PROCESSING AND PRESENTING

n
Considering that English is not their native tongue, the students showed adaptability in
modifying their presentation content in accordance with the feedback they received from the

o
faculty experts.

is i
The addition of final slides describing their summary and recommendations is a
commendable attempt to analyze the implications of their content and make suggestions,

v l
Table 1. Stage I of the 3-week group independent research course of the fourth-year Japanese medical students (n = 6; 4 men, 2 women) in English involving

a
identification of a medical topic for research, selection of a theme, and comprehension of related English medical journal articles on the topic

o
Stage Core activities Strengths Weaknesses

r
STAGE I (week 1) 1) Course introduction: a) Eagerly introduces a) Lack of firm basis for planned specialization

n
-Identifying research topic a) Giving medical specialization plans b) Weak perspective of local and global medical standards

P
-Selecting specific theme perspectives b) Identifies specific fields of c) Cannot fully explain main roles of planned specialization

o
b) Sharing specialization plans interest d) Medical specialization strongly influenced by parents (doctors)
-Comprehending English

i
articles 2) Review of research article Familiar with basic research a) Familiarity is up to the heading level only but not in content
structure article structure b) Unfamiliar with different types of research articles

is
c) Lack knowledge of the structure of different research articles
3) Review of research study Slightly familiar with a) Lack acuity in identifying research study designs
designs and indexing PubMed, Google Scholar b) No knowledge of research reporting standards

v
databases c) Lack experience in using Scopus, Web of Science, etc.
d) Poor information searching skills using search engines

o
e) Limited qualitative and quantitative research knowledge

r
4) Searching online databases Adaptable in learning how to a) Unfamiliar with best target journals for retrieving articles
for articles search for articles b) Lack knowledge of ‘predatory journals’
c) Not familiar in making search, inclusion, and exclusion criteria

P
5) Selecting articles as guide a) Lack skills in judging the quality of selected articles
in making educational b) Not aware whether the article is the latest in the field
materials c) Lack ability to decipher the most important data in articles
d) There is a risk of identifying minor findings as significant
e) Weak article appraisal owing to unfamiliarity with terminology
6) Reading selected articles a) L ack skills in making in-depth analysis of research importance
b) Cannot proficiently assess the methodology and results
c) Limited skills in speed reading and scanning of articles
7) Understanding selected a) Lack of understanding of English medical terms
articles b) It takes time to fully comprehend an article
c) Limited experience in reading and interpreting English articles
8) Synthesizing main points a) Lack knowledge of statistical terminology and methods
and data of selected b) Unfamiliar with study designs and their statistical analysis
articles c) Poor appraisal skills of language, content, and logic
9) Analyzing content of a) Low ability in understanding the novelty of the selected articles
selected articles b) Shallow critical thinking of research implications
c) Lack of confidence in analyzing the relevance of the study
d) Inability to accurately interpret the results

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 3/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

Table 2. Creation of slide presentation by the fourth-year Japanese medical students (n = 6; 4 men, 2 women) for their research topic based on the related
medical articles, receiving feedback on their presentation content from the faculty supervisor, and making initial revisions
Stage Core activities Strengths Weaknesses
STAGE II (week 2) 1) Developing educational a) Lack concept of presentation story
-Creating slide presentation materials b) Unfamiliar with how to create logical flow
-Receiving faculty supervisor c) Lack skills in using appropriate tables, graphs, or images
feedback 2) Composing slide Some can create graphics a) Grammatical errors in slide text
-Making initial revisions presentation: drafting, of causative mechanism of b) Incorrect punctuations, hyphens, spelling, capitalization,
editing, and writing disease plurals, abbreviations, units of measure
c) Fail to remember correct sentence structures and patterns
d) Not confident in rewriting incorrect sentences

l
e) Unfamiliar with using scientific language
f) Inappropriate use of style and words

a
g) Many mistakes in citing and referencing
h) Poor skills in streamlining headings and content
i) Lack familiarity with online materials

n
j) Poor ability in checking reference accuracy/formatting
k) Lack skills in composing good presentation title

o
l) Poor knowledge of plagiarism

i
m) Prone to plagiarize or misinterpret information
3) Formatting slide a) Very weak skills in improving visual data

is
presentation: formatting b) Poor skills in text editing and formatting
and structuring text and c) Low skills in evaluating detail orientation
images; editing text d) Weak skills in evaluating layout

v l
e) Poor ability in making concise corrections
f) Lack writing skills in achieving brevity

o a
g) Lack skills in achieving logical flow
4) Writing, editing, and a) Low ability in writing informative oral text

r
revising the presentation b) Lack skills in writing scientific text in slides

n
oral script c) Incorrect formatting, style, grammar, and phrases

P
d) Inaccurate terminology

o
e) Unfamiliar with scientific nomenclature

i
f) Lack skills in writing an interactive oral text
g) Poor skills in using language and syntax

is
h) Low proficiency in eliminating ambiguities

v
Table 3. Development of video educational materials by the fourth-year Japanese medical students (n = 6; 4 men, 2 women) from their slide presentation,
receiving feedback from faculty experts, making final revisions, and uploading the educational materials online
Stage Core activities Strengths Weaknesses

o
STAGE III (week 3) 1) Discussion between a) Not sure of the faculty experts to consult

r
-Developing video educational students and faculty
materials experts to check for
accuracy of content

P
-Receiving feedback from faculty
experts 2) Revising slide presentation Flexible in modifying content a) Tendency to just accept all suggestions
-Making final revisions based on the comments
-Uploading educational
3) Composing, formatting, Analyze implications a) Lack zeal in rechecking the slides several times
materials
editing, and finalizing and make suggestions: b) Weak motivation to upgrade terminology, fix image
educational materials imply critical thinking and format, achieve brevity, and check all formatting
reasoning abilities c) Inability to estimate information to convey
d) Mainly focused on finishing the slides
4) Making a short quiz Enthusiastic in making a a) Lack knowledge of the sentence format to use
10-point quiz based on slide b) Lack of clarity of questions
content c) Questions need logical flow
d) Wording and sentences require upgrading
5) Narration /video Showed persistence in a) Must improve voice volume, speech clarity, tone,
development of recording narration using narration speed, pronunciation, and emphasis
educational materials PC video software b) Lack proficiency in audio file preparation

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 4/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

Table 4. Presentation of educational materials by the fourth-year Japanese medical students (n = 6; 4 men, 2 women) using their slide presentation, summation,
and course recap
Stage Core activities Strengths Weaknesses
STAGE IV (week 3) 1) Student summation of Realized the need to Summations mainly focused on
-Summation and course recap research experience a) improve in processing and a) how they enjoyed the research and presentation activities
-Slide presentation presenting medical content
b) use English regularly b) their desire to learn more English
c) use medical terms and formal
language in slide presentations
2) Slide presentation a) Did not read oral script a) Lack of skills in persuasive and extemporaneous speaking
b) Conveyed intended message b) Difficulties in pronouncing medical terms and disease names

a l
both of which are important components of critical thinking and reasoning. They also
showed good enthusiasm in making the quiz.

n
Moreover, they demonstrated persistence and patience in recording their composed
narration when developing and uploading their slide presentations as educational materials

o
online using Camtasia.

is i
At the end of the course, they also expressed realization of their need to seriously improve
their abilities in processing and presenting medical content based on English journal articles.

v
They also recognized the vital importance of regularly using English for communication.

o MAIN WEAKNESSES WHEN PROCESSING AND PRESENTING

a l
P r MEDICAL CONTENT

o n
The students had limitations in fully expressing their perspectives and discussing in-depth

i
their planned area of medical specialization in English. They also needed substantial

is
information regarding research article structures, study designs, and indexing databases.
Mentored guidance in searching online databases for reference articles was necessary.

v
There was a lack of proficiency in deciphering the most important data after reading the

o
articles. The risk of identifying less important findings as significant could not be excluded.
It was obvious that the students' experience in reading English articles was limited. This

r
likely explains their unfamiliarity with English medical terminology and expressions for

P
a particular specialty. Such unfamiliarity limited their ability to quickly connect facts;
synthesize, write, and edit information; and interpret findings.

When making the slide presentation, their concept of the whole story and its logical
flow was vague. Most students needed guidance on how to make concise summaries and
recommendations to address, scrutinize, or improve the medical field they were discussing.

Regarding writing and editing skills, these were not remarkable as there were considerable
instances of incorrect punctuations, hyphenations, spelling, capitalization, abbreviations,
numbers, units of measure, and plurals. Their skills in streamlining, editing, and organizing
the slide headings as well as in accurately correcting the content to achieve smooth
organization and logical flow were insufficient. Detailed guidance in making concise slide
and oral presentation text corrections was needed. Moreover, the wordings and sentence
constructions for the quizzes the students prepared needed careful checking.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 5/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

In terms of delivering their slide presentation, the students needed to overcome problems
with posture, gestures/mannerisms, use of gadgets, eye contact, facial expressions, voice
volume, speech clarity, tone, speed of delivery, pronunciation, emphasis, enthusiasm, and
reading of the presentation text. Difficulties in pronouncing medical terms, particularly
disease names, were obvious.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF POSSIBLE CAUSES OF THE

WEAKNESSES

a l
The possible causes of weaknesses are summarized in Fig. 1 and described in detail below.

Student learning seems to cater more to observing rather than participating

n
In agreement with Kuwabara et al.,4 most of the medical school training of Japanese students
are simply observing rather than conducting hands on training in the primary care areas

o
as experienced by third- and fourth-year medical students in the US. Naturally, this implies

i
less opportunities for critical thinking, judgment, logical reasoning, problem solving, or

is
evaluative action.

The teaching of critical thinking skills in clinical medicine appears to be delayed

o v a l
Of great interest is the recent increase in the number of Japanese medical students choosing
to bypass the traditional Ikyoku system of training4 and instead undergo training in medical

P r (4)
Regular classes do not
(5)
There is simply no

o n
i
use English and most
reason and incentive
English instructors

is
for using English
have no medical
medical content
background
(3)

v
(6)
There seems to be
Students have
a lack of emphasis on
difficulty in writing,

o
the importance of
editing, revising, and
scientific inquiry and

r
refining their ideas
research writing in
in English
teaching and learning

(2)
The teaching of
critical thinking skills
in clinical medicine
appears to be delayed
P Weak ability to process
and present medical content
based on journal articles
(7)
English language skills
seem to fade away or
stay dormant rather
than mature as
students move to a
higher year level

(1) (8)
Student learning Students have
seems to cater more to inappropriate time
observing rather than management and
participating study habits

Fig. 1. Overall assessment of possible causes of weaknesses of Japanese medical students when processing and presenting medical content based on scholarly
journal articles.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 6/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

systems that are similar to those in the US. The Ikyoku (or “department”) system is embedded
in each Japanese medical university and is chaired by a professor. It provides training to most
Japanese medical students after graduation in the areas of education, research and primary
care.4 Bypassing this system indicates the growing recognition of the delayed introduction of
clinical medicine teaching in Japan compared with the US, which suggests the late teaching
of critical thinking skills.

There seems to be a lack of emphasis on the importance of scientific inquiry

and research writing in the teaching and learning process

l
The medical education model core curriculum (2016 revision)5 stipulates the need to develop
courses that will train students to understand fully the necessity of medical research in the

a
global context, acquire critical thinking ability, and participate in academic and research
activities. Such courses appear scarce in the Japanese medical program.

o
medical background
n
Regular classes do not use English and most English instructors have no

i
In line with Maruyama's report,6 it is difficult for Japanese medical students to easily retain

is
skills in using medical English, as well as in synthesizing, writing, and editing English
medical information because they do not actually use the medical English learned in class in

v
everyday life. In addition, most medical English teachers in Japan are non-medical majors

l
and they may not be able to explain in-depth medical aspects in English as would medical

o a
English teachers with a strong medical background.

r n
There is simply no reason and incentive for using English medical content

P
Maruyama correctly assesses that Japanese students simply have no critical need for knowing

o
and using English technical terms.6 Thus, the recognition of the importance of medical English

i
content may be more theoretical because there is neither incentive nor advancement in using it.

is
Students have difficulty in writing, editing, revising, and refining their ideas
in English

v
Many Japanese medical students have difficulty in writing and refining their ideas in English

o
because categorizing facts, arranging ideas logically, and expressing and refining them
coherently in writing can be an intimidating undertaking. This situation seems to be rather

r
true for many Japanese doctors as well, thus their dependency on commercial editing

P
companies. Maruyama correctly stated that this difficulty is usually complicated by the
students' dictionary-dependence, lack of dictionary skills, or insufficient reading skills.6

English language skills seem to fade away or stay dormant rather than
mature as students move to a higher year level
This is similar to the “canning concept” of Maruyama6 wherein the imbibed medical English
knowledge during the earlier years of learning seems to fade away or stay dormant as
students move to a higher year level.

Students have inappropriate time management and study habits

We concur with the findings of O'Dowd7 that Japanese medical students usually take a passive
role in their medical English education and that some settle for merely passing grades as
these grades have little weight in the Japanese system or future employers. Memorizing
mechanically without a clear understanding is also a common problem. Similar to O'Dowd's
contention,7 a reluctance to add extra time to study naturally results in shallow learning.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 7/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

IMPLICATIONS OF THE WEAKNESSES ON CRITICAL

THINKING, LOGICAL REASONING, AND
COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR
ENHANCING THESE SKILLS
Although the development and teaching of English courses are clearly essential, the present
findings strongly suggest the crucial importance of education on logical thinking in terms of
reading, writing, and speaking as summarized in Fig. 2 and detailed below.

a l
Medical educators must continually develop better teaching approaches
We recognize the importance of Jenicek's appraisal that classroom assessment methods can
be geared towards a “more participatory, focused, structured, and goal-oriented” manner.8

n
In line with this, we feel that critical thinking must be taught and learnt early following the
Socratic Method described by Jenicek.8 This involves “clarification, probing assumptions-

o
questions–reasons–evidence-implications and consequences, and revising viewpoints and

is i
v l
(1)
Medical educators

a
must continually

o
develop better

r
teaching approaches

P o n
(5)
Students need to be

is i (2)
Developing higher

v
taught various order thinking skills
learning methods must be a main goal

o
and studying skills for students

r
Enhance
Critical thinking
Logical reasoning

P
Communication skills

(3)
More critical
(4)
thinking-oriented
Research-proven
classes with a focus
methods that
on research and
enhance learning
publishing should
should be used and
be developed
tailor-modified

Fig. 2. Suggestions for enhancing critical thinking, logical reasoning, and communication skills of Japanese students when processing and presenting medical content.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 8/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

perspectives” to improve critical thinking, logical reasoning, and communication (i.e.,

writing, editing, and presentation) skills.

Developing higher order thinking skills must be a main goal for students
Learning must be carefully planned to address cognition, comprehension, critical thinking, and
higher order thinking as suggested by King et al.9 The aim must be to improve the ability and
skills on how to critically analyze medical situations and related medical information, apply the
critical thinking methodology, and evaluate the accuracy and importance of the experience.

More critical thinking-oriented classes with a focus on research and

publishing should be developed

a l
It is important to develop more English medical education classes and trainings that are
in line with the medical education core curriculum's aim to “improve skills in searching

n
and organizing the latest information from textbooks and papers, and connecting them
to understanding and deepening diagnosis and treatment of diseases, based on analyses

o
of patients and diseases.”5 This should involve more exposure to and regular activities on

i
‘searching’ for specific scholarly information using specialist bibliographic databases,10

is
‘reading’ medical and scientific journals, ‘writing’ good quality scientific articles11 and
reviews,12 ‘editing’ and ‘revising,’11 ‘publishing’ in non-predatory journals,13 and ‘presenting’

v
medical articles. In this way, “skills in setting new hypotheses from extracted clinical

l
information and participating in scientific research to arrive at a solution”5 may be improved.

r o tailor-modified

n a
Research-proven methods that enhance learning should be used and

P
We have noted the favorable findings of Itatani et al.14 regarding the use of problem-based

o
learning (PBL). Indeed, PBL and other similar research-proven methods could be an effective

i
means of improving critical thinking, logical reasoning, and communication skills. These

is
methods enhance various components, namely, knowledge acquisition, group collaboration,
communication, critical appraisal, literature retrieval, and ongoing learning within a team
environment. These components involve “reflection,” which is the main concept in critical

v
thinking.14 However, we also recognize that these methods must be tailor-modified to a

o
particular country and students as we have had difficulties in applying PLB in Japan owing to
cultural differences.

P r
Students need to be taught various learning methods and studying skills
As suggested by O'Dowd,7 students must be taught how to raise their learning productivity
using various learning methods to enable them to maximize their study time.

LIMITATIONS
The strengths and weaknesses of the Japanese medical students in processing and presenting
English medical content based on scholarly journal articles discussed here are certainly not
conclusive or exhaustive. The assessments of the strengths and weaknesses were based on
daily observations during the course and careful reflection based on long years of experience in
teaching medical students in Japan. This study is purely observational and descriptive and not a
structured research involving multi-institutional data across medical institutions in Japan.

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 9/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

CONCLUSION
The weaknesses of the Japanese medical students in processing (i.e., searching, reading,
writing, editing) and presenting English medical content based on scholarly journal articles
clearly outnumbered their strengths, indicating a problem possibly beyond language skills
that needs careful attention. We believe that identification of these specific weaknesses,
assessment of the possible causes, clarification of their implications on the critical thinking,
logical reasoning, and communication skills of Japanese medical students, and the
suggestions for enhancing these skills will provide educators novel perspectives on how to

l
newly organize educational and clinical programs. These programs may provide a foundation
for addressing these weaknesses, improving the skills, and gaining in-depth knowledge,

a
especially for medical students in non-Anglophone countries.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

o n
i
We thank Raoul Breugelmans, Head of the Department of English, and Hitomi Yukawa,

is
Research Associate (ICT) of the Department of Medical Education, Tokyo Medical University
for their valuable assistance in teaching the students how to use Camtasia, Xerte, and

v
e-portfolio, as well as in providing timely guidance to the students in their research activities.

l
We also thank Chie Tanaka of the Department of Medical Education for logistic and

o a
administrative support.

P r REFERENCES

o n
i
1. Barroga EF, Inoue M, Fujita H, Sato K, Matsumoto N, Nakajima K, et al. The academic writing desk of

is
St. Luke's International University: providing increasing mentoring support in the areas of academic
research, writing, presentation, and publishing. St. Luke's Int Univ Bull 2017;3:34-40.
2. Barroga E, Vardaman M. Essential components of educational programs on biomedical writing, editing,

v
and publishing. J Korean Med Sci 2015;30(10):1381-7.
PUBMED | CROSSREF

o
3. Barroga EF. Essential modules for teaching publication writers. Medical Writing 2013;22(1):4-9.
CROSSREF

r
4. Kuwabara N, Yamashita M, Yee K, Kurahara D. The evolution of the Japanese medical education system: a
historical perspective. Hawaii J Med Public Health 2015;74(3):96-100.

P
PUBMED
5. Medical Education Model Core Curriculum Coordination Committee, Medical Education Model
Core Curriculum Expert Research Committee. Model core curriculum for medical education in
Japan (AY 2016 Revision). http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/detail/__icsFiles/
afieldfile/2018/06/18/1325989_30.pdf. Updated 2018. Accessed September 4, 2018.
6. Maruyama H. Difficulties in teaching technical English in Japan. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos
1996; (3): 216-31.
7. O'Dowd GV. Time management and study habits of Japanese medical university students and general
university students. Bulletin of Hamamatsu University School of Medicine General Education 2010;24:31-47.
8. Jenicek M. Teaching critical thinking in medicine. In: Facione NC, Facione PA, editors. Critical Thinking
and Clinical Reasoning in the Health Sciences: an International Multidisciplinary Teaching Anthology. Millbrae, CA:
California Academic Press; 2008, 1-11.
9. King FJ, Goodson L, Rohani F. Higher order thinking skills: definition, teaching strategies, assessment.
https://www.cala.fsu.edu/files/higher_order_thinking_skills.pdf. Updated 2018. Accessed September 4, 2018.
10. Gasparyan AY, Yessirkepov M, Voronov AA, Trukhachev VI, Kostyukova EI, Gerasimov AN, et al. Specialist
bibliographic databases. J Korean Med Sci 2016;31(5):660-73.
PUBMED | CROSSREF

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 10/11

Critical Thinking and Scientific Writing Skills of Medical Students

11. Hong ST. Ten tips for authors of scientific articles. J Korean Med Sci 2014;29(8):1035-7.
PUBMED | CROSSREF
12. Gasparyan AY, Ayvazyan L, Blackmore H, Kitas GD. Writing a narrative biomedical review: considerations
for authors, peer reviewers, and editors. Rheumatol Int 2011;31(11):1409-17.
PUBMED | CROSSREF
13. Gasparyan AY, Nurmashev B, Udovik EE, Koroleva AM, Kitas GD. Predatory publishing is a threat to non-
mainstream science. J Korean Med Sci 2017;32(5):713-7.
PUBMED | CROSSREF
14. Itatani T, Nagata K, Yanagihara K, Tabuchi N. Content analysis of student essays after attending a
problem-based learning course: Facilitating the development of critical thinking and communication
skills in Japanese nursing students. Healthcare (Basel) 2017;5(3):47.

l
PUBMED | CROSSREF

n a
i o
v is l
r o n a
P i o
v is
r o
P

https://jkms.org https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e18 11/11