Clinical Exchange in Japan

Department: Psychiatry
Period: July - August 2013

4 weeks seemed to just fly by during my placement at Nagoya University! I loved being back in my birth city and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Prof. Ozaki and his department, home to some of the best psychiatrists in Japan.

Right from Day 1, I was welcomed to my own desk in the doctors’ office, and my supervisor, Dr. Branko Aleksic, had arranged a welcome party for me as an ice-breaker - he had invited pretty much all the ward staff!

What I was really impressed by during my time here, was that if you ask to observe/participate in something, people will pick up on your enthusiasm and go out their way to help you make the most of your experience at the hospital. This included: interacting with patients during outpatient clinics, shadowing doctors during ward round consultations and other assessments, observing ECT, engaging in social activities with patients on the ward, watching participants perform tasks for a research study… just to name a few.

Being semi-fluent in Japanese, language was not an issue for me, so I had the bonus of being able to communicate with patients, but language barriers shouldn’t put people off from doing a placement here because all the clinicians speak English.

I would also like to thank the Office for International Affairs for their support and introducing me to other medical students which has helped me build up my network of students and doctors around the world!