Barbara Dedićさん（リエカ大学第5学年次）

I am Barbara Dedić, a student of dental medicine from College of Medicine in Rijeka, Croatia, and I got a chance to attend a student exchange at Hyogo College of Medicine in Japan. I was in the Dental department, oral and maxillofacial surgery. The practice lasted from August 20 to September 14, 2018. The practice was done every day from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am to 5 pm.

The practice was organized in a way that I participated in various general anesthesia operations on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays and spent the Wednesday and Thursday at the Outpatient Clinic. In addition to the practice at the clinic, before the start of the day every morning I participated in a morning conference that discussed the current topics at the dental department.

In four weeks, during the practice, I had the opportunity to learn new methods which are performed in a different way than in Europe and see the cases that are rare in our area. The first week of my practice I was informed about everything that the doctors do during the workday. Slowly, I started to assist at an Outpatient clinic, then I got a chance to assist during operations that have been performed in general anesthesia. After few days of my practice, I also tried to extract impacted molars in general anesthesia then sometimes in local anesthesia. I was also trying to make stitch after extraction intervention. Except for the extraction of impacted teeth, I had the opportunity to assist in complicated head and neck surgery and the removal of oral cancer. The doctors were very receptive and willing to find an explanation for everything that was not clear to me. During the operation, they were explained what they are doing, which was very useful to understand the course of the operation. Some illnesses, such as osteonecrosis, have been backed up theoretically so I got an article to learn more about it. Additionally, I have also learned about the use of intraoral stent that is used to reduce the bad influence on the patients after radiation therapy. Besides the doctors, there were dental technicians who drove us through the dental laboratory and showed us how to make dental prostheses.

Apart from exchanging useful information and experience, and all dental interventions and operation which I saw, I had enough time to spend some time with doctors from the department. We teamed up outside the hospital, dined together, went on a trip together. All I can say is positive words only. Doctors and assistants, as well as other hospital staff and some of the patients from the department, were very accommodating, patient and hospitable and I experienced Japan in the true sense of the word.

I have visited many places in Japan during weekends such as Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, and Hiroshima and tried all kinds of Japanese food which were delicious. I really enjoyed exploring a culture that is so different from our own during these 5 weeks.

I am very satisfied with the organization and the program and this exchange was an experience that I will remember forever. I would like to thank all who were involved in this exchange program, doctors from the department, as well as dental technicians and assistants in an unforgettable time spent in and out of the hospital. I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to come back to Japan and meet again with everyone, but I also hope that they will visit Croatia and that I will have the chance to be great host.