Clinical Exchange in Japan

Really thanks to everyone I met at Nagoya University Hospital. You made me a fantastic and unforgettable journey. Especially thanks to Ms. Kobayashi, not only gave me the warmest greeting, but also helped me a lot from the application thorough my whole stay in Japan.

I spent the first two weeks at Emergency and Critical Care Medicine. In the second week, I have encountered the “Doctor Helicopter”, which transferred the patient from another hospital. It was really excited to witness how the teamwork to operate. Besides, the fifth grade students of Nagoya University, they spent a week in ER and EMICU, and in their last day, they would present a case in ICU with each others. I thought it was really a precious experience for a medical student to face the most critical condition towards the patients. It could motivate us to consider more about the life and death. In the last day, Dr. Numaguchi told me that, “When you knew the worst condition, you would know how to manage in not so severe case, and you can also predict how bad a patient will become, and knowing how to avoid it.” Before I left the ICU, I stood by the side of the little girl who was diagnosed of SCID complicated with PJP infection. She looked curiously into my eyes and breathed deeply. The picture was deeply into my memory, which reminded me the toughness and precious of the life.

Another two weeks at the Internal medicine of Nephrology, I had another fruitful and impressive experience. I’ve been to the inpatient ward, outpatient department, dialysis room, and also attending the conference of the renal pathology. In the pathology conference, the doctor reviewed the basic principles for me, and also discussed the reports with me. Before I left there, I had diagnosed a case of lupus nephritis with Dr. Komatsu. It was really an interesting experience. Besides, Dr. Mizuno spent a whole day discussing the issue of peritoneal dialysis (PD) with me. The reason of the low percentage of PD in Japan, and the possible mechanism/etiology of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS), the most fatal complication of PD. And the change of using neutralized dialysate had possibly lower the incidence of EPS. All of the professors and staffs were willing to share their knowledge, experience and discuss with me. I really had an enriching time.

Exchange in Japan is one of my dreams, and it is really perfect. Within the short span of four weeks, I had a gorgeous time not only learning medical knowledge but also experiencing the different cultures. Hope we can meet again in the future.

Dr. Helicopter on 2018/10/10