Established in central Osaka in 2007, Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences is a private institution which can trace its roots back to 1973 and describes itself as the largest medical integrated university in the Kansai region.
Its faculty of health sciences is divided into departments of physical therapy, nursing, occupational therapy, clinical laboratory, clinical engineering, acupuncture and moxibustion therapy. Via a simulated hospital, it aims to train students who can offer team medical care across the range of skills and techniques and provide holistic care for the person as a whole, rather than just for their illness or injury.
The discipline of acupuncture is presented as offering "a national qualification with the right to open an independent business that can be used for a lifetime", and includes a specialist sports course aimed at physical education teachers and coaches who want to develop expertise in the treatment of injuries through traditional medicine. The university also maintains a Museum of Traditional Medicine and is associated with a training facility for acupuncture and moxibustion in Osaka.
It runs clinics in both western and traditional medicine at its headquarters within a minute’s walk of Cosmosquare station on the Osaka Metro, in a waterfront district close to the city’s harbour which contains numerous other technically-based enterprises.
