Clinical Exchange in Japan

Departments: Geriatric medicine
Period: 2014/3/31 - 2014/4/18

The proportion of elderly is rocketing upward in both japan and Taiwan. However geriatric department is rare in Japan and it has not yet been seen in Taiwan. Therefore I chose Geriatrics Medicine in the Nagoya University, hoping to have a better understanding of the senior-oriented industry and medication. Dr.Suzuki and Dr.Hirose took a lot of time explaining Japanese long-term care of community called (在宅) Zaitaku to me and I was impressed. Every family makes an effort to take care of the elderly, which really costs lots of time and money. I cannot judge whether it is reasonable, but we should think more rather than just build more and more new long-term care facilities in Taiwan since Taiwan will face the same problems soon. Other doctors are really nice and make me feel I fortunate to have my first rotation in geriatrics department.

Departments: Radiology
Period: 2014/4/21 - 2014/5/09

I had a great time at the department of Radiology. Dr. Mori had arranged a full schedule for me and I got the chance to see some rare images and cases of Dr. Suzuki. Other doctors are patient to explain the stories behinds images for me. Doctors here are as busy as those in Taiwan because of large amount of image reports. However I saw several merits in japan. Every report here was read by two radiologists independently in order to decrease mistakes. Every description of image findings in report can directly hyperlink to the original image, which makes clinical doctors easily understand image study and also serves as a good teaching material for medical students like me.

Departments: Emergency and ICU
Period: 2014/5/12 - 2014/5/23

The two-weak-rotation in Emergency & ICU department wasn’t very long but it surely impressed me very much. The atmosphere in the department is friendly. Professor Matsuda, the leader of the department, always wears a kind smile and encourages other members to express their ideas during the meeting. I felt warm when he first introduced me to other doctors and asked everyone to take care of me. Dr. Hinoshita and Dr. Numaguchi speak good English and help me to understand the meeting, which makes me feel like an honored guest. Although not everyone is confident in their English speaking, they are willing to talk to me and try their best to express what they are doing. Dr. Yamamoto even shared Japanese history and political affairs with me.

Comparing to Taiwan, the emergency room in japan is neat and efficient. One of reasons is that the amount of patients is much lesser, meaning that only the patients who really in need will come to the emergency room. Therefore doctors can take time to evaluate patients' conditions carefully. Another merit is that the referral system in japan is more comprehensive. For most of emergent patients, doctors know their conditions and decide whether to receive these patients. Before the patient come, the doctors are well prepared. By the way, doctors in Emergency & ICU department of the NUH are divided into three teams and they need to support other hospitals. I think it is a good idea to concentrate medical resource in medical centers for emergent case since the doctors will be more experienced and trained. In Taiwan, it wastes much medical resource for local hospital to establish emergency room but has only limited ability to help patients.