Department of Psychiatry

Head of the Office: Kazutaka Shimoda MD, PhD

Message from the Head of the Department

     Due to advances in science and technology, has led to the destruction of the global environment due to economic globalization. This has increased the anxiety factors in social life, therefore, people's mental lives are in an extremely unstable situation. It is in such an era that we aim to develop psychiatrists who are full of humanity and have a bio-psycho-social perspective, and we will continue to make maximum efforts in collaborating with people involved in local psychiatry. We consider it the responsibility of psychiatrists.
     We, psychiatrists, deal with a wide variety of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, mood disorders, dementia, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, developmental disorders and etc. Moreover, the cause is unknown in most disorders, and the quality of life is significantly reduced. Therefore, the purpose of psychiatrists is diversifying and need to be provided in close collaboration with other specialties.
     Psychiatry is a very important part of a society where medical care can be practiced in close connection with society. As a psychiatrist, "motivation to live" and "what you want to do" are always found while engaging in "clinical", "research", and "education", which are the three pillars of the role of the university psychiatry department.
       We, the Dokkyo Medical University Department of Psychiatry, will be “Door is always open”. Feel free to knock.

Activities

1. Research

  • Psychopharmacology research
  • Mental health research
  • Liaison research

2. Clinical

  • General medical care
  • Dementia Disease Medical Center
  • Liaison consultation
  • cognitive behavioral therapy


3.  Education

School of Medicine:

4th year Psychiatry
5th year Clinical clerkship
 6th year Advanced clinical clerkship

Research Field:

     Research to elucidate the mechanism of psychiatric illness and the mechanism of recovery, and to improve diagnostic and therapeutic techniques is also an important mission of our Department of Psychiatry, but we have not yet clarified the root cause of psychiatric disorders. There are many challenges in treatment. In other words, we believe that the problems that psychiatrists encounter in their daily psychiatric clinics have research issues that will be useful to patients and their families. Research utilizing imaging technologies such as genome analysis, PET scan, and functional MRI is being actively conducted, but it is possible to steadily accumulate results while making good use of them so as not to be swayed by such high-tech technologies. This is the motto of this department.

Faculty

Professor Kazutaka Shimoda, MD, PhD
Associate Professor Norio Yasui-Furukori, MD, PhD
Associate Professor Norio Sugawara, MD, PhD
Senior Assistant Professor Hiroaki Okayasu, MD, PhD

Characteristics of the section

“To be a professional who can handle everything”

     After completing the initial two-year training under the clinical training system, we will provide three-year training as a specialist in accordance with the psychiatric specialist training program (program name: Dokkyo Medical University Hospital Psychiatric Specialist Training Program). The goal is to become a Japanese Society of Psychiatry certified specialist, as well as a Designated Physician of Mental Health. In our department, the flow of applying for a designated mental health doctor and acquiring qualifications is well established when the application period is reached. Five specialists and instructors of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology are enrolled in this course, and the guidance system for acquiring specialists is in place.