Academic Responses to Fukushima Disaster

Abstract

Since radiation accidents, particularly nuclear disasters, are rarer than other types of disasters, a comprehensive radiation disaster medical curriculum for them is currently unavailable. The Fukushima compound disaster has urged the establishment of a new medical curriculum in preparation for any future complex disaster. The medical education will aim to aid decision making on various health risks for workers, vulnerable people, and residents addressing each phase in the disaster. Herein, we introduce 3 novel educational programs that have been initiated to provide students, professionals, and leaders with the knowledge of and skills to elude the social consequences of complex nuclear disasters. The first program concentrates on radiation disaster medicine for medical students at the Fukushima Medical University, together with a science, technology, and society module comprising various topics, such as public risk communication, psychosocial consequences of radiation anxiety, and decision making for radiation disaster. The second program is a Phoenix Leader PhD degree at the Hiroshima University, which aims to develop future leaders who can address the associated scientific, environmental, and social issues. The third program is a Joint Graduate School of Master's degree in the Division of Disaster and Radiation Medical Sciences at the Nagasaki University and Fukushima Medical University.

Lessons from Fukushima: Latest Findings of Thyroid Cancer After the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident

“…It is thus necessary to deepen the understanding of radiation and the thyroid, both among healthcare professionals and the public, and to develop appropriate radiation risk communication by examining in detail the data of long-term epidemiological surveys and by studying the relation with the exposure dose and other factors, and to rely on the insights provided by cancer biology and genetics. The lessons from Fukushima emphasize the importance of education in radiation risk and proper understanding of thyroid cancer biology ( 54 , 81 , 82 ). These observations also provide a valuable opportunity to reconsider the significance, benefits, and disadvantages of early diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer.…”

Mental health of nurses after the Fukushima complex disaster: a narrative review

“…In addition, the greater the knowledge of radiation, the better the mental health observed. It is possible that increased knowledge regarding radiation will reduce anxiety of radiation, suggesting the importance of radiation health risk education for health-care professionals especially from the acute to subacute period of disasters [ 14 , 37 , 48 ]. During the chronic phase of a disaster, work and daily burdens were more influential on mental health than anxiety about radiation; hence, mental health care for nurses should be considered, independent of concerns of radiation (Fig.…”

Lessons from and perspectives for healthcare student volunteer activities after the Fukushima disaster

“…As one example, members of the WILL reported a study on the changes in disaster education at FMU after the Fukushima disaster, comparing it with other universities. The content of this report was conducted against the background of enhanced radiology education at FMU after the earthquake (Yasui et al, 2017), and the fact that radiology education was made compulsory in the core curriculum of medical education, which was modified in 2016. It is striking because the educated students themselves reported on the significance of radiology education.…”

“…Social expectations of having expertise in radiation as a healthcare student in Fukushima Prefecture are high, and they may be called upon to help in the event of a possible nuclear disaster in the future. As mentioned above, FMU has enhanced radiation medicine education in medical schools (Yasui et al, 2017); however, active learning is conducted by the students. Lectures by specialists in various fields such as radiation protection, secondary effects of disasters, and mental health have been held.…”