Clinical Exchange in Japan

I felt so honored that I was selected by our Office of Education and Office of International Cooperation to attend the clinical clerkship program held by Nagoya University this year. The 5 weeks I spent in Nagoya was really a great experience in my life.

The first 3 weeks I was in Respiratory Department. Dr. Morise was my supervisor. He is a kind and patient teacher. As you know that we had to communicate in English, so there might be some obstacles when we discussed about certain topics in medicine, but Dr. Morise was always in patience and explained very carefully and detailedly to me until I got his point. He also attached much importance to the program. The first day when I arrived at Respiratory Department, Dr. Morise introduced me to the whole department and gave me a piece of paper which printed my schedule of next 3 weeks on it. In my schedule, a lot of doctors and researchers in Respiratory Department took part in the communication with me. Most of them were outgoing and glad to show me their recent researches. Also, I took some courses with those 5th grade-students in Nagoya University Medical School. The professor tried to teach the lessons in English, and this made the class very vivid and interesting. The 3 weeks in Respiratory Department were really substantial and meaningful to me. I harvested a lot of useful skills and knowledge of respiratory medicine and I really appreciated all the doctors in Respiratory Department that helped me. The rest 2 weeks I was in Cardiology Department. Dr. Morimoto was my supervisor. He asked me to joined the conference in EMICU every morning and then went to the angiography room to watch the operations for a whole day every day. So I learnt some knowledge of cardioangiography in those days.

Besides the study in Nagoya University Hospital, I also took a short trip to Nara and Kyoto in weekend. Nara and Kyoto were both ancient and quaint cities in Japan. There were lots of Japanese styled temples and shrines there. It was the hot season for people to visit Kyoto in November and December, so it was very crowded and full of festive atmosphere. The red maple leaves were really beautiful and fascinating. And the deer in Nara were so cute. Many visitors bought “deer biscuits” to feed them, and after eating the biscuits, the deer would make a bow to the feeder.

It was too short for me to stay only 5 weeks in Japan, but it was also a fulfilling, irreplaceable and indispensable experience to me. I gained a lot of skills and knowledge for my future career in medicine from this clinical clerkship program, and I was really thankful to all the teachers and doctors that helped me in Nagoya. Hope we can meet again someday!