Kurume University PET Center

On January 15th of 2004, Kurume University started using PET (Positron-Emission Tomography) equipment, regarded as a technological innovation in medical care, in the early part of the 21st century. The PET scanner is a model by ADAC-Philips Co, which has the highest sensitivity detector (the ratio of detection of cancer is high). The Center produces a positron nuclide (fluorine-18, carbon-14, oxygen-15, nitrogen-13) and radioactive ligands used for PET imaging. Radioactive ligands are administered to patients, and PET images are obtained. The most advantageous point of this examination is that a full-length, three-dimensional image can be obtained by a single injection. Kurume University Hospital is the second hospital among private universities in Japan to have introduced PET, and has been continuing to provide advanced medical care as an advanced treatment hospital. PET has proven indispensable to the medical examination of cancer, and Kurume University Hospital is making developments for the eradication of cancer, playing an important role as the main regional hospital for the medical management of cancer. PET is a functional diagnostic method for observing molecular function, unlike image-based diagnostic methods. It is expected that PET will aid greatly in the discrimination of benign and malignant diseases, the diagnosis of the degree of malignancy, the diagnosis of the patient's disease stage, the search for primary lesions, and the evaluation of medical treatment (chemotherapy, effects of radiation judgment, diagnosis of recurrence, and post-operative survival rates). It is expected to contribute to the improvement of the examination and medical treatment of cancer with increasing speed. Moreover, it is anticipated that radioactive ligands affecting the mechanism of information transmission in cancer cells will be produced in the near future.

Dental and Oral Medical Center

The Dental and Oral Medical Center, Kurume University School of Medicine, is extensively organized not only to integrate　oral health science with research in clinical and basic dentistry, but also to serve the innovative, professional and public needs in the specialty in oral medicine and oral surgery which includes the diagnosis, surgical and adjunctive treatment of diseases, and injuries and defects involving both the functional and esthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.

We aim to promote the medical and health care education and health care management of the general population through the comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction of oral functions and structures. Furthermore, we contribute to education in the Graduate School of Medicine, which trains clinical investigators and scientists for the promotion of research in oral science. High quality clinical training and continuing education headed by qualified dentists and oral surgeons ensure that the profession thrives, improving the lives of patients and practitioners for decades to come. The Dental and Oral Medical Center is expected to continue its progress in the fields of clinical medicine, education and research, thus contributing yet further to the profession and the community.

The Kurume University Medical Center is affiliated with the Kurume University School of Medicine and was founded in July 1994 for the purpose of providing advanced medical service, research and education. Our hospital is located in Kokubu-machi, in the eastern part of Kurume City and currently consists of 20 clinical departments and 6 highly specialized clinical centers (Innovative Kampo Medical Center; Orthopedic and Joint Surgery Center; Rehabilitation Center; Center for Memory and Aging; Rheumatology; and General Practice and Primary Care Center) with 250 beds.

Our mission is to provide medical care to the satisfaction of both patients and medical professionals. We promote translational medicine from children to the elderly, from health care to nursing care, and from basic research to clinical medicine. Our entire hospital staff continuously make every effort to collaborate as a “Team Medical Center” and play a role in health care and the establishment of professionals for a “Community-based Integrated Care System”.

Rehabilitation Center

The Kurume University Rehabilitation Center, located in the Kurume University Medical Center at Kokubu-machi, Kurume City, was established in April 1998 with the latest computerized rehabilitation facilities. The Center was founded in order to provide the appropriate rehabilitation treatment for disabled patients who are treated at both Kurume University Hospital and the Medical Center. The Rehabilitation Center plays an important role as an educational and instructive rehabilitation center for other rehabilitation establishments in the southern area of Fukuoka Prefecture. The Rehabilitation Center is also widely known as a leader in rehabilitation biomechanics of musculoskeletal disorders.

The Rehabilitation Center's mission is to meet not just the physical, but also the mental, psychological, social and vocational needs of patients who have suffered disabling conditions as the result of a severe accident or illness. The Rehabilitation Center also helps patients to build a belief in themselves that they can still make a mark on the world despite their disabilities, thereby helping them to build a bridge towards independence.

The Mii Campus Library was established in 1952. The present general library building was constructed in 1989. The main floor houses the office, stacks of reference books, reading rooms, checkout counter, computer search corner, magazine and newspaper stands. The second floor accommodates open stacks and reading rooms, and the Herwood Collection room. On the third floor are conference rooms, reading rooms and the Multimedia Room. The basement houses many books, magazines and other materials. The Library contains about 680,000 volumes as of April, 2016, both in Japanese and in several foreign languages and is open daily.

The Kurume University Medical Library was constructed with 2,830 square meters of floor space in a three-story building on the Asahi-machi campus in 1967. The library houses about 138,000 volumes and 137,000 current medical journals.

The original library was severely damaged by a disastrous flood when the Chikugo River overflowed its banks in 1953. Great contributions from faculty members and alumni, and also gifts from many sources outside the University permitted complete re-establishment. The Library is always reforming itself to meet the needs of medical students and researchers.

Kurume University Junior and Senior High School (KUJS) , or “Fusetsu” in the local area was founded in 1950 as a boys’ high school under the newly established post-war educational institution, the junior high school established in 1969, and coeducation introduced in 2005 to the high school, and in 2013 to the junior high school respectively. The outstanding
courses taken by the graduates of our school demonstrate the distinguished quality of our educational activities. Every
year more than half of the 200 graduates are matriculated in the University of Tokyo, the most prestigious university in Japan and in the faculties of medicine to national universities.

Though a substantial part of the pupils aim for medical careers, one third of the graduates choose law, economics or humanities as their specialties going on to highly regarded national and private universities, usually with more than 30 graduates being admitted to the University of Tokyo.

On top of the brilliant academic accomplishments in terms of the number of the graduates admitted to the most prestigious universities, KUJS is proud of its great contribution to producing bright and useful persons both inside and outside Japan. Indeed, quite a large number of our graduates have made themselves competent and powerful personages to lead Japanese society in its every branch such as medicine, law, administration, economics, academic world etc. Quite a few graduates have been active in political, legal, administrative and economic arenas as senators and members of the House of Representatives, lawyers, judges, government officials and executives of big companies and banks. Masayoshi Son, chief executive officer of Softbank Mobile was once registered in our high school. The academic world also sees many outstanding scholars and researchers having graduated from KUJS, among whom we can naturally be proud, including of: Toyoki Kunitake, winner of the Order of Culture and a candidate of the Nobel Prize, and Mitsutoshi Nakano, scholar of Japanese literature, another winner of the Order of Culture. Thus, our school is undoubtedly one of the most excellent educational organizations in charge of secondary education, supposed nationwide to produce brilliant and promising young people, who will be of great help to the prosperity and happiness of the mankind. As a coeducational school, we also have the firm intention of promoting gender equality, which will certainly make substantial contributions to the desirable development of the society we now live in.

The development of medical technology is remarkable, and medical technologists are indispensable in team medical care. It is the job of medical technologists to provide essential inspection data for diagnosis and treatment. It is necessary for experts of medical technology to operate sophisticated inspection equipment and provide accurate data. At medical sites, medical technologists that are acquiring expert knowledge and professional skills that progress day by day, are being sought after.

At our school we have a fulfilling curriculum in which students can obtain the national qualifications as a medical technologist in 3 years. Although it is a vocational school, it is affiliated to a medical school and we offer quality education that is comparable to universities. In addition, the emphasis is placed on clinical practice at hospitals, and we are aiming to nurture medical technologists who will meet the immediate demands of the real world. Our students are studying at the medical university campus, closely interacting with medical students and nursing students, creating an environment for nurturing them for the service of humanity. Furthermore, since the school opened in 1968, the number of graduates has exceeded 2,000. Many graduates are active in medical institutions mainly in Kyushu, and their services are highly appreciated.