OUR MISSION

[Thoughts to MELSA’s Future]

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in March 2011, causing unprecedented damage. That disaster made us Japanese, as well as many people around the world, acutely aware of the importance of life. In the disaster-stricken areas, medical professionals from both within the country and abroad, including Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT), rushed to provide emergency life-saving care. In light of the current trend of increased mobility of people, goods, and information, the globalization of medical care that supports life is an urgent issue in our rapidly globalizing society. The term “global human resource development” has become increasingly common in corporate and educational settings. This means that the next generation of Japanese medical practitioners is expected to not only have a wealth of specialized knowledge and language communication skills but also to contribute based on humanity and hospitality, and to thrive as true international individuals in a global environment.

In recent years, various government policies aimed at developing global human resources have been activated, with active participation from industry, government, and academia. Therefore, in the fields of health, medical care, and welfare, “developing professionals who can be active as highly specialized workers” and “developing human resources who can contribute to the international community” are being promoted as important educational goals. The globalization of medical education, the acceptance of medical tourism, and attempts by medical institutions to obtain international accreditation such as JCI (Joint Commission International) are on the rise. In addition to the mobility of patients from various countries, foreign medical practitioners involved in health, medical care, nursing, and welfare under the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) framework have also started working in the field. Even if these EPA foreign medical practitioners are fluent in Japanese, smoother communication and deeper interaction can be expected if they can also communicate in English. English should serve as an “international common language” and become a tool in the medical field.

From this perspective, we will provide and support a place for learning medical English conversation, considering the utmost convenience for multi-professional medical practitioners and motivated learners. In light of the decision to host the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, we will also provide a place for learning support for interpreter volunteers who can meet various needs in daily life, not just medical-related, such as introducing Japan and guiding the vicinity to foreigners visiting Japan.

Based on the decision to host the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we will also provide a place to support the learning of volunteer interpreters who can introduce Japan to foreign visitors and show them around the area, and can meet a variety of needs not only related to medical care but also in everyday life.

Furthermore, on September, 2017, we passed the screening for use of the "Tokyo 2020 Participation Program" support mark and were "certified." This is a great honor for us. We will use this opportunity to establish a wide-ranging base of activities that connects to medical care from a global perspective, and will work sincerely to make further contributions to society.

We kindly ask for your understanding and cooperation in our endeavors and hope you will agree with our purpose. 

Non-Profit Organization Medical English Learning Support Association (NPO-MELSA)

Representative Director  Atsuko Omori

（written in October 2017）