The National Defense Medical College (防衛医科大学校, Bōei Ika Daigakkō?) is Japan's six-year university-level military academy under control of the Ministry of Defense whose objectives are to train future military officers who are also medical doctors and current military doctors with advanced level of theory and application of medical sciences required to conduct the missions of Japan Self-Defense Forces and acquisition of research capability of the related fields as well as to offer training of clinical medicine.
It is headquartered in Tokorozawa, Saitama, and has annexed a College Hospital, a Research Institute and a Nursing School, but no dental school.
Its students selected from applicants and typically are recent graduates of Japanese civilian senior high schools who have completed twelve years of formal schooling. Like National Defense Academy of Japan (NDA) students they are paid salary and half-yearly bonus as employees of the Ministry of Defense.
After graduation the graduates are posted to an Officer Candidate Training School in one of the three forces. They take national medical doctor examination and after passing the examination they take two-year internship and posted to Self-Defense Force hospitals and the battalions.
If a graduate quits the force before nine years of service the retiree must refund their training cost to the national government. This is different from the NDA.
The National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation, an independent administrative institution affiliated with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has accredited the mainstream courses and offers the graduates degrees. As the College is not an MEXT-accredited university it cannot offer its own degrees.
Read more about National Defense Medical College: History
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