Clinical Exchange in Japan

I was fortunate to spend 4 weeks at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine near the end of my medical education. I have an interest in placental biology and asked to work with the Obstetrics and Gynecology group to be able to work and interact with physicians and scientists in the Department carrying out research that I found intriguing. Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Transplant Surgery at my home institute and was keen to see how such a service operated in a different country, culture, and healthcare context.

During my two weeks on the ObGyn service I was able to spend 3 days each with the infertility and reproductive endocrinology group, the obstetrics team, and gynecologic surgery, enabling me to have a very diverse set of experiences. All of the doctors I worked with were extremely friendly and excited to discuss care of the patients and the overall hospital system with me, and to teach me about the care algorithms in Japan. They went out of their way to get me involved in surgeries and to inform me about procedures and deliveries so that I could move between teams and minimize my down time. The patient population of Nagoya University Hospital is very unique and I saw many complex patient cases that I had not seen in my earlier rotations. I particularly enjoyed working with the embryologist with the IVF group and was able to see all the steps along the process from oocyte retrieval, ICSI, freeing, and embryo transfer. The group took care of me not only in terms of my education, but also my stomach and took me to lunch most days.

My two weeks with the transplant surgery team was similarly excellent. The team was carrying a heavy load of very complex patients and they took the time to teach me about their management plans and the details of physiology regarding transplantation and it’s complications. I had not seen living donor liver transplants before and was thrilled to see such a complex operation and be able to be involved throughout the process from recovery, through back tabling and implantation, and on to post-op care. I was also able to see the process of donor evaluation and psychiatric follow-up of transplant donors and recipients, which I had not encountered before.

I also had a great time with the other students I met while on the rotation. Two other visiting medical students from Sweden were very welcoming and showed me the local bouldering gym where they had been going many evenings after work. I had dinner several times with two Japanese medical students, and met another one for a workshop on a traditional tie-dyingtechnique from one of the old neighborhoods of Nagoya. The students in the international student dorm were similarly welcoming and interesting to talk to. I was very thankful for the students I met and spent time with, particularly since Covid-19 was beginning to emerge and many students were leaving and returning home. Throughout that process Ms. Megumi kept me updated of changes in policy and made sure I was safe in the hospital, in the dorm, and was able to change my flight and get home safely.

I had a fantastic time in Nagoya, both inside and outside of the hospital, and hope that I can keep in touch with the clinicians, students and staff that I met and see them again soon.