Clinical Exchange in Japan

I was between 3rd and 4th year of medical school when I embarked on this exchange programme in Neurosurgery and Haematology and Oncology. The 4-week experience was both enriching and fulfilling, as I was offered the opportunity to not only explore different fields of interest, but also to connect with the various doctors and professors in each specialty to exchange our thoughts and ideas.

The first 2 weeks in Neurosurgery typically started around 10am at which the operation typically starts, and, depending on the specific types of operations, last until 4 to 7pm. A wide ranges of subspecialty operations, including stereotactic functional neurosurgery, skull base endoscopy, spinal neurosurgery, neuro-oncology operations, and cerebral vascular surgeries were covered on different days of the week. On the Monday and Friday of each week, morning seminars were held discussing the specifics of each operation with all faculty members present at 8am. I have found the first week especially interesting as my schedule coincided on various occasions with that of a group of 5th year medical students form Nagoya University, and it was a precious personal experience for me to discuss and exchange ideas with colleagues educated in different medical systems. Professor Saito was kind enough to grant me access to the wards and the outpatient department, where Dr Ishizaki offered me with in-depth knowledge discuss with specifics of the patients presented in his epilepsy clinic. Valuable additional learning opportunities, including neuro-radiology workshops and neurovascular suturing workshops were also provided.

As for the following 2 weeks in the Department of Haematology and Oncology, I was privileged to have Dr Ushijima as my mentor, who took time to explain to me in depth the various principles and management strategies regarding different haematological pathologies whenever she was not busy with patients. Guided by on-call doctors, I was able to shadow through daily procedures from ward rounds and viewing pathology samples to observing high-end treatments such as CAR-T therapy. A typical day usually involves me reporting to the on-call doctors around 9am and leaving around 5pm every day; mornings are usually busy, as the most of the planned procedures and updating of medical records take place during this period, while afternoons are more chill, leaving sufficient time for 1-1 learning with the doctors. A brief 2-page report was also required to be generated during this period discussing a haematology or oncology topic of my choice. Dr Furukawa was more than patient in offering me guidance and introduction in to the topic of CAR-T therapies which I had very limited prior knowledge of, hence making the report-writing to be truly a self-learning opportunity for me.

Overall, I really cherish the valuable time that I have spent in Nagoya University Hospital alongside this extremely dedicated group of doctors. I cannot stress enough how grateful I am to all the doctors and staff members who made this experience possible.