NEWS
President's Award for the Summer Research Program 2021 Online
The annual Summer Research Program conducted by the Frontier Medical Sciences Degree Program and Graduate School of Medical was selected for the President's Award for Education for the academic year 2021. The Summer Research Program 2021 was conducted online, and 187 students from overseas participated.
The Summer Research Program was commended by the President of the University of Tsukuba for its ambitious efforts to introduce the university’s medical research to a wide range of people and to make a significant contribution to recruiting excellent students from overseas to the graduate school of the University of Tsukuba.
Thomas Mayers and Professor Kiong Ho, as members of the organizing committee, were chosen as representatives to receive the award.
2nd International Conference on Natural and Social Science Education
In November 2021, Thomas Mayers gave a Keynote presentation at the 2nd International Conference on Natural and Social Science Education, under the conference theme of “Embracing, Educational Change and Transformation: Revisiting the Basics.” The conference was sponsored by our partner university, Universitas Muhammadiyah, Indonesia. In his lecture entitled “Involving high school students in university exchange programs: Experiences from the University of Tsukuba” Thomas shared about some of the unique ways that the University of Tsukuba’s Faculty of Medicine has extended its educational programs to involve students from high schools in Japan and overseas.
24th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
Thomas Mayers gave a presentation at the 24th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting, entitled “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical science students’ motivation to study.” In this online presentation, Thomas shared findings from a survey of medical science students from the University of Tsukuba.
Global Academic Program
In spring of 2021, Thomas Mayers gave an online educational lecture series entitled “Academic Communications: Presenting, Writing and Discussing” for students of Indonesian Consortium For BioMedical Science, sponsored by the University of Indonesia. The aim of this lecture series was to improve students’ ability and confidence to communicate in written and spoken academic and scientific English.
5th International Seminar, Universitas Muhammadiyah
Thomas Mayers was invited to participate in the 5th International Seminar, sponsored by the Faculty of Medicine Universitas Muhammadiyah, in February 2021. He gave an extended online educational lecture entitled “How to Write and Edit a Research Manuscript.”
Tsukuba Scientific English Conference (TSEC) 2019
In October 2019, the first Tsukuba Scientific English Conference (TSEC) was held. The main purpose of the conference, organized by Thomas Mayers and Tadachika Koganezawa, was to help the participants to improve their scientific English skills through a range of practical talks from international experts, educators, professionals, and students. A secondary purpose was to help create a network of people interested in this topic.
On Day 1, the Keynote presentation was delivered by Professor Surr from Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her talk, which focused on the role of clinicians and patients in designing and carrying our research, was an eye-opening introduction to how cutting-edge research in healthcare is done in the UK. Professor Miyamasu, Professor Langham and Dr Weisburd’s talks were strongly focused on aspects of scientific writing and presentations, and were very well received by the participants. A number of the talks touched on the issue of diversity and gender equality in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals number 5. The conference also became a platform for the students to share their concerns about issues facing international students in Japan and Japanese students studying overseas. I believe that many of the attendees felt encouraged and challenged by the honesty of these talks.
Day 2 was held as part of the student Presentation Session at Tsukuba conference. The brilliant talks by Professor Mathis and Professor Millar were on oral and poster presentation while Professor Surr, after talking to students about their posters, gave invaluable feedback and comments.
On October 7th a fascinating special lecture was given by Professor Claire Surr entitled “Barriers and enablers to interventions to support person-centred dementia care in care home settings: learning from a trial of Dementia Care Mapping.”
We look forward to holding similar events in the future.
Scientific Writing Workshop
March 28–29, 2019
Thomas Mayers taught this two-day course for over 100 Master’s students in Biomedical Science at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta. The course covered the basics of writing paragraphs and essays through to detailed advice on writing and editing scientific manuscripts.
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
March 17, 2019
Dr Mathis gave a talk, “A Madness to the Methods: Clinical Methods Dissection.”
Joint Young Researcher Meeting in Biomedical Science
February 23, 2019
Thomas Mayers took part in the 1st University of Tsukuba-University of Science, Joint Young Researcher Meeting in Biomedical Science on February 23rd, 2019. Thomas gave a lecture entitled, Guide to Writing a Good Research Proposal. This meeting gave students and graduates from the University of Tsukuba and our partner schools in Vietnam to share their research with oral and poster presentations.
The University of Tsukuba Ho Chi Minh Office 10th Anniversary Celebration
February 23, 2019
The University of Tsukuba celebrated 10 years since the establishment of our Ho Chi Minh City Office with a ceremony and series of symposiums covering a range of scientific, medical, and educational topics. Thomas Mayers was privileged to act as MC for a lecture given by Dr. Yoshiyuki Sankai, entitled Initiatives for “Cybernics City” - Smart City that Induces Innovation for Aging Society and a panel discussion on the same topic involving President Nagata Kyosuke, University of Tsukuba, President Tran Diep Tuan, University of Medicine and Pharmacy HCMC, and President Huey-Jen Jenny Su of National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
October 28, 2018
Flaminia Miyamasu gave a talk, “Hands-On Editing: the Introduction Section.”
TGSW 2018
September 22, 2018,
Thomas Mayers organized the 3rd Scientific English Workshop at the annual Tsukuba Global Science Week conference held at Tsukuba Congress Center. Flaminia Miyamasu gave a talk entitled “Hands-on Editing of a Scientific Abstract,” alongside other talks by Professor Michael Guest, University of Miyazaki, and Professor Bruno Jactat, University of Tsukuba, and two graduate school students.
University of Science, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
August 23–24, 2018
Thomas Mayers gave two talks, called Powerful Presentation, at each of these partner schools. These well-attended lectures gave students an opportunity to learn the skills to start giving great oral presentations.
The 30th Writing Center Seminar @ Kasumi Campus, Hiroshima University
August 1, 2018
Flaminia Miyamasu gave a seminar, “Hands-On Editing: the Abstract Section.”
The 21st Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
July 28–29, 2018
Mayers sensei gave two presentation firstly one on our teaching
activities at the University of Tsukuba, Patient Talks: Motivating future doctors with patient stories, and secondly, a short talk called Medicine and Me as part of a workshop called EMP lesson plans: PechaKucha style presentation.
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
March 18, 2018
Dr Mathis gave a talk, “Demystifying the Discussion: a Synthetic Approach.”
Global Science Campus
March 18, 2018
Thomas Mayers gave an invited lecture on charity activities at the Japanese-Swedish Communication Program part of the Japan Science and Technology Agency’s Global Science Campus and Keiko University’s School of Medicine.
Biomedical English Workshop, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
January 18–19, 2018
Thomas Mayers taught a two-day workshop in scientific English. These lectures covered various aspects of scientific English, such as writing, publishing, presentation, and pronunciation.
Symposium on Support for Researchers Publishing in English: From the Perspective of Institutional Administration, University of Hiroshima
November 11, 2017
Flaminia Miyamasu gave a talk, “Setting up and running a publications support center at a Japanese university: experiences from the Medical English Communications Center, University of Tsukuba.”
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
October 29, 2017
Flaminia Miyamasu gave a talk, “Hands-on editing of a scientific abstract.”
Please note that the MECC office will be closed from December 27th to January 9th.
We wish all our colleagues and students HAPPY HOLIDAYS and look forward to working with you again in 2018.
the MECC staff
The 20th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
July 22–23, 2017
Mayers sensei gave a talk, Organizing a charity fundraising event: a class project that brought lessons in life.
Kenichi Uemura Award 2017
Congratulations to Mayers sensei: he is this year’s recipient of the Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE)’s highest award, the Kenichi Uemura Award. He won the award for this talk, Laughter is the best medicine: using comedy sketches to learn medical English, given at the 2016 JASMEE Academic Meeting.
University of Tsukuba Biotechnology Center of Ho Chi Minh City
February 19–21, 2017
As part of the Experimental Course in Biotechnology in Medicine, the MECC team offered a seminar, Sessions in Scientific English, at two venues, the University of Science and the University of Medicine and Pharmacy.
Tsukuba Global Science Week
September 17–19, 2016
Mayers sensei hosted a session titled Scientific English Workshop.
At this session, each of the MECC staff gave a talk, as follows:
Writing in style: an introduction to the American Medical Association Manual of Style and other style guides (Miyamasu sensei)
Scientific language for data presentation (Mathis sensei)
Tools for effective visual communication in science (Mayers sensei)
Congratulations!
We would like to congratulate Dr Aiko Sakai of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tsukuba Hospital for winning the “Fellow Exchange Program Award” at the American Pediatrics Society Conference in Baltimore, 2016. Before the conference, Dr Sakai worked very hard on preparing and practicing her presentation with coaching and help from her colleagues and also from Thomas Mayers of MECC.
SUMMER RECESS
The MECC office will be closed from August 1st to 21st.
The 19th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
July 17, 2016
Miyamasu sensei gave a talk, “The University of Tsukuba’s Medical English Communications Center (MECC).”
The 19th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
July 16, 2016
Mayers sensei gave a talk, “Laughter is the best medicine: using comedy sketches to learn medical English.”
Hokkaido University, English Learning for Science, Agriculture and Engineering program Symposium, “How do we teach English to engineering and science students?”
November 20, 2015
Mayers sensei was invited to give a presentation entitled: “Teaching English for Medical Science” at this symposium.
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
March 6, 2016
Miyamasu sensei gave a talk, “Parallelism: a quick way to level up your scientific writing.”
Hokkaido University, Educational and Career Planning Office and English Education Program Faculty Development Seminar
November 20, 2015
Miyamasu sensei and Mayers sensei were invited to give a seminar, “Internationalization and Teaching in English: Experiences from Tsuku
Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Seminar
October 4, 2015
Miyamasu sensei gave a talk, “Punctuation matters.”
University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Global Science Week 2016：A Brighter Future Through Transdisciplinary Collaborations
September 30, 2015
Mayers sensei gave a presentations at this year’s conference: “Guidelines for clinically assisted nutrition and hydration in the context of treatment and care at the end of life in the United Kingdom
The 18th Japan Society for Medical English Education (JASMEE) Academic Meeting
July 19, 2015
Mayers sensei gave a talk, “Volunteer work in a hospital school as a means to professional development for the EMP instructor.”
Two new Self-Study modules have been uploaded.
The Parallelism module has explanations and exercises on using parallel style to improve your scientific writing.
The booklet, History-Taking in English: a Booklet for Physicians, contains sections on greeting the patient, taking the history of the present illness, asking about other medical information, conducting a review of systems, and expressing empathy.
The following text books are available for checkout
- Barron's The Leader in Test Presentation
- Sample Essays for the TOEFL Writing Test (TWE)
- TOEFL TEST Strategy iBT Listening
- TOEFL TEST Strategy iBT Speaking
Faculty Development of English (FDE) Meeting
The 15th FDE meeting was held on March 13th.
The topic was "Rethinking Teaching"
It was again well attended and a great success.
The next FDE Meeting will be held in May in room 105 of the Health and Medical Science Innovation Laboratory.
Thursday Lunchtime English
Brian sensei gives out a handout to participants. They use the handout and practice dialogues. The best part is that they can ask questions freely during the lesson.
The next Thursday Lunchtime English classes will be held on April 17th and 24th in a room in the Regional Medical Network System Research Center.
