Clinical Exchange in Japan

First of all, I feel lucky and grateful to get this opportunity of the clinical clerkship placement in Nagoya University. It has been more than a month since I returned to Shanghai, but it seems like it was only yesterday when I first set foot onto Chubu International Airport. The report provides me with a chance to give some insight into what I learned in the amazing 10 weeks in Nagoya University Hospital.

I rotated in three departments during the program, Cardiology, Orthopedics and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. All the doctors in these three departments were so kind and hospitable. I have not only learned many medical knowledge from them but also got to know the Japanese medical system and some interesting facts about Japanese culture.

My first two weeks was in the Department of Cardiology. Every day started with the morning conference in ICU, where you could see patients in relatively severe conditions with all kinds of diseases. Cases related to cardiovascular problems may also involve several other malfunctions, which would affect the treatment plan and need cooperation with other departments. Although the conference was in complete Japanese, Dr. Morimoto and Dr. Kunimura would always explain the main points for me. Usually I would go to the angiography room after the conference. There were 5 to 6 operations each day including PCI, RFA, pacemaker implantation etc. Every doctor there was kind enough to explain each procedure or some advanced technologies like CARTO system and answer my questions patiently. Besides, they had additional arrangements for me each day, for example, they taught me how to do the echocardiography and showed me how the exercise stress test work.

With cardiologists of the arrhythmia group

I spent the next six weeks in the Department of Orthopedics. There were several groups including sports medicine, tumor, spine, hip, hand surgery, pediatrics and rheumatology. I was with the sports medicine group for most of the time but each group only performed surgeries on specific days in a single week, so basically I could join other groups and watch different kinds of operations when there was no schedule for sports medicine. The most common procedures in the sports medicine group were total knee anthroplasty and shoulder or knee arthroscopy. Dr. Sakai, Dr. Ono and Dr. Miyamoto would illustrate the patient’s history, current situation as well as the procedure they were going to do before each operation and show me the highlights during the process. They also allowed me to accompany them in the outpatient clinic. Since Chinese and Japanese people have many similarities both as Asian, it is highly informative for me to know the common and rare diseases in clinic. Surgeons in others groups were also very nice, taking a lot of time explaining everything I didn’t understand in detail.

The last two weeks was in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Takanari wrote down the whole schedule for me on the first day, with an English morning conference every Monday, Professor rounds on every Tuesday and Thursday as well as operations everyday. Compared to the Orthopedics, a reconstructive surgery would take much longer time due to the elaborate procedures in need of cooperation with other departments. They let me scrub in for several times and it was amazing to see how they dealt with those small vessels and incisions skillfully. The most interesting part is that there will not be two cases exactly the same, therefore it needs some imagination and creation to treat each of them.

In addition to all the wonderful medical experience, I also had a lot of great moments off work. Farewell parties held by each of the three departments gave me a chance to have a shot at delicious Japanese cuisine like sushi, yakiniku, chicken wings and so on. I spent weekends visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama and places near Nagoya like Inuyama. I was truly impressed by the delicate traditional Japanese architecture and the mixture of modern style. Thanks to many kind and warm hearted Japanese people, my trips all went smoothly.

Left: With surgeons in the sports medicine group  Right: Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto

Overall I had an excellent clerkship at Nagoya University and would recommend it to anyone who would like to get involved in a friendly, welcoming hospital. I had a fantastic experience medically yet also enjoyed immersing myself in the Japanese life and culture, leading to a thoroughly rewarding time. I can’t thank Nagoya University enough for giving me an opportunity to do the clerkship. With so many incredible memories there, Nagoya has become a home-like place for me. I will definitely visit again in the near future!