University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

The University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan (UOEH), as a university for the training of qualified occupational physicians and the promotion of occupational health, was established in Kitakyushu city in 1978 under the enactment of the Industrial Safety and Health Act of 1972 for the securement of occupational physicians experienced in occupational health management. This act rules that every company over a certain size is obliged to appoint an occupational physician to control its workers’ health.

UOEH promotes education and research that pertains to medical science, especially occupational medicine and occupational health. It also produces many excellent medical doctors/scientists, occupational physicians and occupational health professionals who are active in society while conducting world-class research in the field of basic medicine, clinical medicine, occupational medicine and occupational health. Highly regarded publications on auto-immune diseases and asbestos related diseases written by our colleagues have been frequently cited by researchers around the world, which contributed to our position in the World University Rankings 2020 published by Times Higher Education. UOEH ranked in the 7th among Japanese Universities and 1st among Japanese private universities.

Features

UOEH has the Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences (IIES) which conducts research on occupational medicine through three different groups; Group for optimization of Work Environment, Group for Occupational Health Support, and Group for Environmental Evaluation. IIES actively contributes to international cooperation, for example by implementing a JICA group training course. It also plays an important role as a WHO collaborating center for Occupational Health, which IIES was designated by WHO in 1988.

In addition to the Graduate School of Medicine where students are trained to be health professionals who lead the field of medicine globally, UOEH has the Graduate School of Occupational Health. At the Graduate School of Occupational Health, students can pursue occupational health professionally by focusing on issues including nanoparticles, asbestos, and aging working populations. The Graduate School of Occupational Health trains researchers and practitioners who contribute to improving working conditions and discovering health effects in order to promote occupational health. Students receive “Doctor of Philosophy in Occupational Health”. This is possible only at UOEH in the world.

The Graduate School of Medicine has been successfully contributing to the society by conducting international-level research and training of health professionals, as evidenced by First Department of Internal Medicine being selected as “The Center of Excellence for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Japan”. As one of UOEH’s 40th anniversary projects, UOEH established the “Asia International Educational Program for Graduate Students in the field of Occupational Health”, which allows selected non-Japanese students to be exempt from tuition fee.  

UOEH has international partnerships with 23 institutions around the world such as National Taiwan University and Thammasat University of Thailand. We would like to welcome students from all over the world. The Graduate School of Medical Sciences offers students the following three majors.

Graduate School of Medicine

Graduate School of Medicine trains students to have expertise in special medical fields as well as in the field of preventive medicine with a focus on occupational health.

Certificate no. / Certificate issued / Name (Nationality)

• No. 496 March 26, 2019 Dr. Ma Xiaoxue (China)
• No. 488 March 27, 2018 Dr. Phuong Le Thi (Vietnam)
• No. 486 March 27, 2018 Dr. He Cuiying (China)
• No. 460 March 24, 2017 Dr. Li Xiaojia (China)
• No. 455 March 24, 2017 Dr. Thuy Thi Nguyen (Vietnam)
• No. 449 March 23, 2017 Dr. Zhao Jidong (China)
• No. 448 March 25, 2016 Dr. Cheng Xiaobo (China)
• No. 442 October 14, 2015 Dr. Lin Lin (China)

Journals in which our foreign students have published their papers (2016-2018):

1. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases（IF 12.350）　　
2. Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy（IF 1.826）
3. Journal of Applied Toxicology（IF 3.159）
4. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology（IF 2.376）
5. Virchows Archiv（IF 2.613）
6. Modern Rheumatology（IF 2.397）
7. Oncotarget（IF 6.359）
8. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications（IF 2.281）

※IF as of 2019

Graduate School of Occupational Health

Graduate School of Occupational Health trains students to be specialists and educators who have expertise in occupational health. It provides students with knowledge and skills for the prevention of harmful effects on the health of people at work, for helping people with diseases to continue working, and for the improvement of workers’ health and working conditions. This is the only school in the world to provide “Doctor of Philosophy in Occupational Health”. The first group of students who completed this degree graduated in March, 2019.

Specialties

Occupational Diseases, Occupational Health Sciences, Hazardous Work Management, Occupational Epidemiology/Medical Humanics, Occupational Health Engineering, Occupational Health Management

Graduate School of Nursing

The Graduate School of Nursing trains nursing practitioners with advanced nursing skills and investigative thinking ability in clinical practice, nursing administrators with a high level of management skills, and educators and researchers specializing in nursing science.

Currently at UOEH, there are 16 foreign graduate students from 5 countries carrying out research. The following support systems are available for non-Japanese students:

Tuition and scholarships

Exemption of Tuition fee

Upon application, exemption of tuition fee is available from the second semester of the first year.

Introduction to scholarships

Various scholarships are available for non-Japanese students. Most students receive a scholarship. The financial assistance varies from 30,000 yen to 150,000 yen (as of 2019).

Applicable Insurance

All the students have to sign up for health insurance in Japan.

“Asia International Occupational Health Program” (Scholarship-A , Scholarship-B）

Students or staff members of a university to which UOEH has sent an invitation can apply for this program with a recommendation letter by the university President. Currently, UOEH sends invitations to 46 universities in 16 countries in Asia. This program offers:

Scholarship-A

• Enrollment fee exemption (282,000 yen)
• Tuition fee exemption (535,800 yen per year)
• Residence: Furnished twin dormitory room will be available for free. Add-on fees such as electricity, water, laundry and phone charges shall be self-borne.
  *NOTE: The residence (Guest House) rooms provided by UOEH are only for the students who belong to the program. Family members of those students are not allowed to live in the same room.
• Stipend: 80,000 yen per month (paid for research assistant work)
• Length of Scholarship: 4 years.

Scholarship-B:

• Registration fee: 50% exemption (Originally 282,000 yen)
• Tuition fee: 50% exemption (Originally 535,800 yen per year)
• Residence: Furnished twin dormitory room will be available for about 30,000 yen per month. Add-on fees such as electricity, water, laundry and phone charges shall be self-borne.
  *NOTE: The residence (Guest House) rooms provided by UOEH are only for the students who belong to the program. Family members of those students are not allowed to live in the same room.
• Stipend: 80,000 yen per month (paid for the work as a research assistant)
• Length of Scholarship: 4 years. During enrollment, the students taking course A will be able to apply for another scholarship to cover whole or half of the tuition fee after enrollment in the graduate course. (NOTE: It will be covered only from the second semester of the first year.)

Residence at UOEH

Residence
UOEH offers Guest House accommodation located next to the university. Upon application, the rent will be around 15,000 yen per month. This furnished twin dormitory room includes a desk, bed/linens, an air conditioner, a TV, a microwave oven, an electric kettle, a refrigerator). Guest House has a laundry room. Apartments outside UOEH are also available.

International Center
International Center provides support for non-Japanese students. The center hosts some meetings and provides advice for non-Japanese students in English. Since Kitakyushu Science and Research Park is located near UOEH, you will have opportunities to meet students from different universities such as Waseda University, Kitakyushu University, Fukuoka University and Kyushu Institute of Technology.