Clinical Exchange in Japan

Having had a great experience with the General Surgery Department back in Singapore, I decided to request to follow the Gastroenterology Department as firstly it would allow me to gain more exposure for the Surgical Department. Additionally, I felt that a surgical posting would better allow me to learn more rather than a pure Medical posting as I would be able to learn through visually seeing the surgeries, and that several surgical terms such as the names of the procedures are easily known in English as well. This aided me in slightly overcoming the language barrier between me and the doctors.

When I had arrived at Nagoya University Hospital, it was a rainy morning! After a short tour and talking to Mamiko, whom I had been communicating with via email the past few months, I went ahead to meet my mentors, Professor Tanaka and Dr Sugita. Subsequently, I was brought to the OT and that was the start of my electives experience.

As part of the exchange, I got the chance to watch a variety of operations, ranging from non malignant Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors removal, to esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, which I have learnt is more common than gastric cancers (and I saw more of such operations). In addition, I had the opportunity to make friends with the local students that were rotating through the department as well. They shared with me their experiences in studying Medicine in Nagoya University Hospital, and through them I got to understand the differences between our curriculums and learning focusses. Furthermore, they were very friendly and accompanied me for lunches, OT sessions and teaching tutorials as well. I also had the opportunity to join the team for their patient discussio and ward rounds, and got to see how they checked up on patients preoperatively as well as postoperatively, and my mentors would include me on discussions of the patient’s cases as well as surgical interventions that were planned. Overall, despite there being a language barrier due to my weakness in Japanese, the doctors in the team and my mentors tried their best to teach me and I am truly appreciative that I got to be attached to such a great team.

With regards to the accommodations, there was actually a straight bus from the bus stop right outside the hospital to the student hostel accommodations! It was very convenient and the bus timings were very accurate. As it was a shared suite, I got the chance to befriend other international students that were staying in the same suite as me as well. The private room space that we got was cozy and sufficient for a nice stay during my period of exchange, at an affordable price. The hospital is also easily accessible by the JR and metro for Tsurumai Station and it was located right opposite a park as well.

Overall, I had a wonderful learning experience during my short exchange at Nagoya University Hospital. I am extremely thankful to my mentors, Professor Chie Tanaka and Doctor Sugita, as well as the other doctors in the team for making me feel so welcome and teaching me along the way. I look forward to any future opportunities to return to the department for more learning, and would highly recommend my peers and juniors to take part in an exchange at Nagoya University Hospital if they have the chance.

Thank you!
 Magdeleine Chen