Clinical Exchange in Japan

I have to admit that this 6-week travel to Japan really gives me lots of fragrant memories, though I indeed did not have too many expectations, since I have already studied medicine as an exchange student in University of Ottawa in Canada, Sydney University in Australia, and UTHealth Center in U.S. However, none of them are so memorable as this one.

I chose infectious diseases as my first department and psychiatry as the second. The two weeks in infectious diseases I really learnt a great deal. Although this department consists merely seven main members, everybody is extremely knowledgeable and considerate. Yagi sensei always teaches me and listens to me with a smile; Morioka sensei has his own sense of humor and I thanks a lot for his patience; Iguchi sensei is usually kind to me while I find he is a relatively strict professor; Tomita sensei is forever so elegant and tender; Matsumoto sensei takes a great care of me; OKA sensei has the ability to create such hilarious and relaxing atmosphere; Tezuka sensei tells me various matters to attention in infectious diseases. Everyday started from the microbiology lab by viewing the microorganisms directly from the microscopic to determine their traits (e.g. gram positive/negative, cocci/rods), and the following activities depended. Sometimes I followed the doctor in charge to see the patient in the ward to observe their talking and communication, and sometimes I participated in their weekly meeting or even lectures given to other departments. For instance, I joined once in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) for the hand hygiene lesson mainly discoursed by Matsumoto sensei. I took part in their discussion about the proper usage of antibiotics, their daily meeting in the lab, their consultation from other departments and their case reports. All of them gave me first-hand lessons and I would cherish them in the bottom of my heart.

For the Psychiatry department, doctor Brunko has shown me the whole hospital around to let me have a big picture of it. I got to know about the main psychiatric disease categories in Japan and observed several PBL classes about post-partum psychiatric problems and substance abuse— the excellent performance of the Japanese medical students really impressed me! I also joined their group meeting on various topics, such as bipolar disorders and the medication usage, schizophrenia and the associated progress, etc. And one of the most unforgettable moments is that I even moved into the operation room to observe how the doctors perform modified electro-convulsive therapy (MECT), and it was extremely amazing!

Apart from the departments themselves, the Japanese culture, customs, sightseeing, and dishes all delighted me to a great extent. Since Japan has become so intriguing to me, I swear that I will attempt to learn Japanese as much as I can during my leisure time and I sincerely hope I will come to Japan again and again in the future.