Clinical Exchange in Japan

(Tsurama Park, a famous park found in front of the hospital. Beautiful views of the park can be seen by the patients from the windows in their rooms.)

I am in my final year of medical school and I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to study Hematology/Oncology and Endocrinology at Nagoya University Hospital. I was amazed by the endless kindness and hospitality I was offered here. Busy professors and graduate students took time out of their days to teach me and during Professor’s rounds and departmental meetings, one of the doctors even took the time to translate for me. In Hematology/Oncology, I was able to see bone marrow transplants and examine bone marrow under the microscope, learning to identify various hematological conditions. In Endocrinology, I saw the profound utility of continuous glucose monitoring in patients and I was able to participate in a 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test with the local medical students. The professors and students were welcoming and helped me feel at home. They even took me to lunch multiple times and helped me find my way so I would not be lost during my first few days.

Because I am going into psychiatry, the professors tried their best to expose to the psychiatric side of their departments, for instance, going to a interdepartmental meeting between Hematology Oncology and Psychiatry for their co-managed patients, as well as answering my questions about Japanese culture and the perceptions of mental illness. In addition to teaching me medicine, the professors also taught me about the differences between the US and Japanese healthcare system such as the longer length of stay in Japan.

Beyond the hospital, the physicians in the hospital made sure to give me advice on places to see and where to eat so I could fully delve into the culture. I was able to study Katakana and Hiragana on my own and by the end of my time in Nagoya, I could read both Katakana and Hiragana (with much help from the local Japanese medical students).

Overall, I have been so blessed to be able to not only visit Japan for the first time, but to experience another medical system and learn so much from the unbelievably hospitable doctors and students in the Hematology Oncology department and the Endocrinology department.