Berk Inanさん

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a month as an exchange medical student at Hyogo Medical University (HMU) in Nishinomiya, Japan. My summer experience was split up into two phases: phase one was the first two weeks of my hospital training with the orthopedic surgery department, and phase two was the last two weeks of my hospital training with the otorhinolaryngology department.

During my time with the orthopedic surgery department, I attended morning conferences. During these conferences, residents presented cases from that week to the entire team. Thankfully, the residents wrote their presentation slides in English while I was there, so I could understand what was going on. I worked under the supervision of Dr. Shintaro Onishi and Dr. Tomoka Iseki, who were both incredibly welcoming and accommodating. I spent most of my time in the operating room and got to experience a multitude of procedures. Some of the procedures I viewed in the operating room include total knee arthroplasty (TKA), osteotomy, which is an uncommon procedure in the US, rotator cuff tear repair, carpal tunnel syndrome surgery, and vertebral body fracture repair. I was able to scrub into many procedures and learn firsthand while standing next to the surgeons. The surgeons were very helpful and talked me through most of the procedures, explained the indications for the surgery, and the recovery process. I was even able to perform a suture during one of the surgeries. I also spent some time in the outpatient clinic, where patients came to be seen preoperatively or postoperatively. The orthopedic surgeons were incredibly welcoming, and they took me out to eat three different times. I greatly enjoyed my time with them and am very grateful for their hospitality. On my last day, I gave a mini presentation on my experience during my two weeks with them, and I only had positive things to say.

Phase two of my training at the hospital was in the ENT department with my peer, Nivi. On the first day, we attended the outpatient clinic, rounds with patients, and their afternoon conference. We were directly supervised by the professor, Dr. Kenzo, and Dr. Saito. They were fantastic hosts, and we learned so much from them. We have not covered head and neck anatomy or endocrinology yet in our curriculum, but we got a head start in those areas because of our experience. We spent most of our time in the operating room observing procedures like endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS), tonsillectomy, thyroid tumor removal surgery, and more. We got to practice our endoscopic skills under the supervision of Dr. Kenzo and Dr. Saito, learning how to remove gauze and replace it with a new gauze. There is a learning curve for endoscopic surgery, as you need to be able to coordinate your movements with the live view of the screen. ESS was also my favorite surgery in which to participate. During downtime hours, they provided us with a suturing kit on which we could practice our skills. Overall, I had a fantastic time with the ENT department.

In conclusion, my summer in Japan is one that I will never forget. I am very grateful to RWJMS for providing me with this opportunity and to HMU for being such an amazing host during our stay. I am also grateful for and would like to acknowledge the Sukumar and Anne Nagendran
International Medical Study Scholarship that helped fund this summer experience. I hope to visit Japan again in the future!