Nurture global health workforce

The development of healthcare professionals is a central challenge in global health, and since our establishment in 1986, we have been delivering training courses primarily for health administrators and healthcare professionals in low- and middle-income countries, as well as courses aimed at increasing the number of Japanese individuals contributing to global health.

Results of the training courses

Global Training Enrollment Map FY2025: 37 Countries, 188 Participants

Training Enrollment Trends

Training programs for health professionals from overseas

There are four types of training programmes for participants from overseas. The first is issue-specific training, where Japan identifies common challenges across countries and invites participants from multiple nations to take part. The second is ‘Project Counterpart Training’, which is based on requests from technical cooperation projects currently being implemented overseas. The third is the ‘Project for the Promotion of International Expansion of Medical Technology’, in which Japanese and overseas organizations collaborate to develop training projects; and the fourth is training commissioned by domestic or international organizations other than JICA.

Training programs of global health for Japanese students and professionals

The programme for Japanese participants is aimed not only at healthcare professionals but also at Japanese students and working professionals with an interest in global health. We offer three courses: a lecture-based course for beginners seeking a broad introduction to global health, a field course abroad for beginners, and an advanced course for those with prior experience. BGHC experts serve as instructors, and participants deepen their understanding through lectures, group work and discussions.

Regarding Health Checkups for Training in Japan

As a training organizer, JIHS needs to check the health of participants and ensure safe and smooth training. In addition to monitoring the health of participants, JIHS must guarantee the safety of patients and pregnant women in the healthcare facilities where including patient contact takes place. In particular, precautions must be taken to prevent international participants from spreading measles and active tuberculosis (TB) in Japanese hospitals. In Japan, those who want to participate in hospital tours and including patient contact are usually requested to submit their measles, mumps, rubella and varicella antibody test results, vaccination status, and chest X-rays in advance, but it is often difficult for participants from low- or middle-income countries to meet such requirements.
Therefore, this Manual has been developed by JIHS’s Bureau of Global Health Cooperation, Disease Control and Prevention Center (DCC), and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team to outline the procedures that are acceptable to both training participants and facilities and effective in ensuring safe and smooth training without unnecessary restrictions on participation.

※ Medical Examinations are required for clinical training at the JIHS.