Igor Rubinićさん（リエカ大学第5学年次）

I am Igor Rubinić, a fifth-year student of Medicine at the University Rijeka in Croatia. During the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program organized by my Faculty in Rijeka and Hyogo College of Medicine in Japan. Another two students, Barbara and Aleksandar, students of dental medicine, gained the same opportunity so we travelled together. I chose the Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Management and Intensive Care Unit as my workplaces, while Barbara and Aleksandar chose Dentistry and Oral surgery department. The exchange took place from August 20th to September 14th 2018. I attended the practice in the hospital every day from 8 am to 4 pm.

On the days I was in the Anaesthesiology department, I had morning conference where patients that had to go to surgery were discussed. Then I would go to the operating rooms with one of the doctors and practice different skills. I learned a lot about different drugs that are used during the operations, inserted arterial and venous lines, intubated a few times, discussed different parameters that are closely observed while the patient is under the influence of anaesthesia and much more. One of the most interesting things I have seen was transesophageal echocardiography which I tried to do on a model and interpret the images in the operating room during a cardiovascular surgery. It was very exciting and dynamic because the doctors were very nice and tried to teach me as much as possible.

On the days I was in the Intensive care unit, we also had a morning conference and we went to see the patients afterwards. It was very valuable to me because I haven’t seen a lot of ICU patients during my education in Croatia, so I learned a lot of new things and gained a bit of confidence. The doctors in the ICU were great. They really tried to explain everything to me and did a very good job. Also, a lot of the patients there had surgery a few days earlier, so I have seen them in the operating room. It was very interesting to follow their condition a few days later in the ICU. While I was in the ICU, I also participated in the conference held by Infectious diseases specialists which was very interesting for me as I am considering becoming an Infectious diseases specialist myself.

Every Friday I had the practice in the Pain Management. I was very surprised how exciting it was. We had a lot of patients with chronic pain that needed different methods of therapy. As pain management is not very popular field in Croatia, I was very glad to see some procedures that are not yet available in my home country.

In all of my workplaces I had the privilege to be taught by excellent doctors that were very nice to me and tried to teach me as much as possible in my four-week stay. Here I would like to thank them again for their generosity and hospitality. They really made me feel as a part of the team, rather than a visiting student.

After the work was done, Barbara, Aleksandar and I were also invited to many dinners by the doctors from all of our departments. It was a great way to discover the Japanese cuisine and develop new friendships outside of the hospital.

During our free time, we tried to discover as much of Japan as possible. We stayed in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe and Osaka. I really enjoyed visiting all of the places, but I like Kyoto the most. I hope I will get the opportunity to visit it again sometimes.

While we were in the hospital, we also met three students that came to our University, so we already knew them when they arrived in Croatia. We tried to make them feel comfortable during their stay as they did for us.

To sum things up, I think that participating in the exchange program was a priceless opportunity for me. I learned a lot of new things, got the chance to discover a different culture, gained experience and met a lot of new friends. I hope I will return to Japan sometimes and see everyone again!