Diploma policy (Principles guiding graduation requirements)

Graduates of Department of Clinical Psychology will gain systematic knowledge of the fields of psychology and clinical psychology; a fundamental understanding of practices in clinical psychology; essential communication skills for counseling; and an ability to work within collaborative groups involving practitioners in the fields of medicine, education, and welfare. Before graduation, students will acquire the following skills and perspectives requisite of 21st century citizens.

①　Linguistic competence

Graduates will gain:

* The ability to engage in empathetic communication with clients and patients, grounded in a sincere respect for the humanity of others.

* The ability to work effectively in medical teams involving different groups of professionals.

* An international perspective, and the ability to gather state-of-the-art information on psychology and clinical psychology published outside of Japan.

②　Knowledge and understanding necessary for 21st century clinical psychology graduates.
Graduates will gain:

* Fundamental knowledge in the fields of psychology and clinical psychology.
* Fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for counselors in medical, healthcare, educational, and welfare settings.
* The ability to explain one’s role as a counselor in various settings.
* Knowledge that conditions of the body and mind are inextricably related, as well as knowledge of diseases and disabilities.
* A broad knowledge of liberal arts subjects necessary for 21st century citizens.

③　Problem-solving and information gathering skills

Graduates will gain:
* The ability, on one’s initiative, to identify and explore problems in connection to one’s studies in psychology and clinical psychology.
* The ability to apply validated studies in exploring psychological issues.
* The ability to conduct one’s studies independently, with passion and a desire for self-improvement.

④　A sense of ethics and social responsibility

Graduates will gain:
* A sense of ethics, mission, and responsibility as one involved in the psychological profession, and the ability to conduct oneself with thorough professionalism.
* The ability to devote themselves to their work as psychologists across their lifetimes.
* Respect for laws and customs of society as one of its members in carrying out their work.

⑤　Community-mindedness

Graduates will gain:
* An understanding of the professional roles of psychologists in the medical, healthcare, educational, and social welfare systems in one’s community.


Curriculum Policy (Principles underlying the educational framework and experiential learning)

To foster excellent individuals as detailed in the diploma policy, the Department of Clinical Psychology at Kagawa University's Faculty of Medicine provides a curriculum that is comprised of general education courses (more than 36 credits), and undergraduate courses (more than 98 credits (19 from specialized basic subjects and 79 from specialized subjects)). More than 134 credits are needed to graduate. While there are no promotion requirements, in order to take Clinical Psychology Fundamental Research I/II, Psychology Practical Training (Psychological Support), Clinical Psychology Research I/II, Psychology Practical Training II (Team Care), and Graduate Research, students must fulfill the requirements set by the Faculty of Medicine.
The course structure below outlines what is needed to fulfill the conditions of the diploma policy.

①　Linguistic competence

General education communication courses aim to improve the lingual prowess that is fundamental to students’ success. We also provide advanced foreign language courses which further improve students’ ability so that they may broaden their international horizons through language. Students will learn the basic techniques of collecting information through information literacy. They will also acquire the abilities to interact empathetically and humanely with others, cooperate and coordinate with those in various occupations with a focus on the client and patient in seminars with intimate class sizes, including excursions to and hands-on training at intramural and extramural facilities and organizations.

②　Knowledge and understanding necessary for 21st century clinical psychology graduates

General education basic study courses will furnish students with the extensive education and fundamental knowledge to live in today’s society. The specialized basic subjects and specialized subjects provide the fundamental knowledge and understanding sought from psychological assistants. These are psychological subjects with the goal of systematically teaching psychology and clinical psychology, medical courses that teach the foundations of medical science, and sociology classes that teach social welfare and legal administration. Students will obtain the knowledge and skills needed of psychological assistants through seminars and practical training in addition to lectures. In addition, students may take pedagogical courses on the foundations of education as electives. By learning medicine in concurrence with psychology and clinical psychology students will learn that the body affects the mind and vice versa. Moreover, they will gain the knowledge of important diseases and disorders. By going on excursions to and conducting hands-on training in various workplaces, students will learn the psychological assistant’s role of how he/she cooperates and works in tandem with those of other occupations. Basic Research Methods of Clinical Psychology I/II, Research Methods of Clinical Psychology I/II, and Graduate Research will aid in their ability to coordinately utilize their knowledge and understanding of Clinical Psychology.

③　Problem-solving and information gathering skills

In the general education courses, students will learn the fundamental methods of problem solving and innovative thinking through introductory college seminars. Students will learn empirical (quantitative and qualitative) research methods in order to handle problems of the psyche in Psychological Experiments I/II, Psychological Statistics Law, and Psychological Research Methods. Reflecting on students’ experiences in seminars, hands-on training, and practice recitals will cultivate their ability to solve problems and innovate. Courses in Basic Research Methods of Clinical Psychology I/II, Research Methods of Clinical Psychology I/II, and Graduate Research will further enhance their problem solving and innovation by creating a theme for themselves.

④　A sense of ethics and social responsibility

In Theme-based course A: “Your Life and Career,” in the general education course, students will learn how to live as 21st century citizens. They will acquire the sense of social and ethical responsibilities characteristic of the psychological assistant, learn what it means to be a member of society, and how to devote one’s self to a lifelong study as a professional through practical courses and lectures in Bioethics, the Ethics of Clinical Psychology, and Social Welfare Theory. Students will learn the ethics and related laws and regulations of clinical psychology in Professionalism of the Licensed Psychologist (theory on duties and responsibilities the psychologist) and Legal and Administrative Systems (theories on Social Medicine and related regulations). In Humanistic Psychology, students will learn how to support others and respect their humanity.

⑤　Community-mindedness

Theme-based course C: “Regional Understanding” in the general education course will spur students’ understanding of the local area. Through activities and trips to extramural organizations and institutions, students will learn the present states and respective tasks of their local healthcare/sanitation, education, welfare, justice/correctional industries. Students will learn what the psychological assistant’s real role is in the local community by associating these fields with an assistant’s professional duties.

We will conduct rigorous evaluations (on a five-level grading system and grade point averages [GPAs]) to assess the above, namely evaluations based on students’ knowledge and understanding of the lectures and their ability to use that information in the field of clinical psychology as well as their mastery of supportive communication. Regarding Graduate Research, we will conduct a cumulative assessment of students’ established tasks and the practical capability of the solution.


Admission policy (Principles underlying university admission)

Prospective students are expected to have the following academic abilities, capabilities, and competencies:
① *Knowledge and skills in a variety of subjects acquired in high school
② *Logical ability to think and judge in order to deeply understand and support the psychological aspects of human beings, as well as the ability of scientific and critical thinking based on evidence
*Ability to think from various perspectives, and the ability to express one’s thought clearly
③ *A collaborative attitude, communication skills to attend to others voluntarily and to understand one’s opinions and values respectfully
*Receptivity to others and the ability of empathic communication
④ *High aim and interest towards psychological aid and the ability to continually and ambitiously tackle the issue
* Attitude of deep and warm respect for human beings, the will to develop the potential ability of one’s self and deepening self-understanding through relations with others
* Motivation for higher practice of psychological helping after graduation with the will for contributing to society as professionals of psychological helping
⑤ *Self-awareness and responsibility as professionals of psychological helping for human health, adaptation and growth, and also as a member of society, the ability to understand one’s role in society, ethics and social responsibility


In order to perform well as university students, students in high school are expected to have fundamental sufficient academic ability covering on Japanese language, English and mathematics before admission to Kagawa University.

Students are also expected to acquire a wide range of knowledge of scientific subjects in order to understand life and natural phenomena scientifically and logically, and the attitude of understanding the culture, history, and society which is the background of human life, from various perspectives by the study of social subjects.

In Japanese language courses, students are required to gain the basic ability for building up one’s opinion logically, express one’s self, and establish communication with others based on the fact and other information. In English, students are required to be able to understand textbook materials, make statements of academic theses, and, communicate with others in international activities. In mathematics, the ability think logically based on numerical processing and the basic ability of statistics are expected.

General Admissions Test:
Phase 1 dates:
An extensive area of subjects necessary for studying clinical psychology is assessed by the results of the National Center Test for university admissions. The individual institutional test consists of Japanese language or mathematics, English, and an interview. For Japanese language, the ability to expand one’s opinion logically, summarize in writing, and to express to others appropriately; for mathematics, the ability to reason and think logically are evaluated. In order to assess a wide range of students of humanities and science, elective subjects are implemented.
English examinations are conducted for full-scale development of international communication skills at the university.
In the interview, the ability to think, judge, and express; work cooperatively, flexibly, and independently; and interest, passion, attitude, a sense of ethics, and social responsibility are evaluated.