The precursor of Asahikawa Medical University was the Karahuto Medical College Karahuto Igaku Senmongakou) founded in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 1943. After World War II, Karahuto Medical College was closed down because the nearby island of Sakhalin was occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Red Army. The Asahikawa city government applied to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) for relocation of the medical college to Asahikawa, but they were rejected. After the rejection, the Hokkaido government planned to form medical schools in both Asahikawa and Kushiro in order to address the shortage of physicians in Hokkaido. In 1973, Asahikawa Medical College was established. At first, the college had only one department: Medicine. Without a campus of its own, it was located within the Hokkaido University of
Education campus. AMU moved into its original campus in 1975. In 1996, the department of
Nursing Science was founded and in 2010, the college was renamed to the Asahikawa Medical University. AMU has become the core medical university in Hokkaido with many physicians from AMU working in the local community.
Last Updated on: Nov 26, 2024