Alen Šarićさん

During this summer, I spent one month at Hyogo Medical University, Japan, as part of an international internship. When people from Europe think about Japan, their first thoughts are definitely hard-working and brilliant people, with a huge history and tradition fused with modern lifestyle and modern technologies. And probably that is mostly true, the trains which are right on a minute, very dedicated people, amazing culture, tasty food and beautiful nature.

Regarding my internship at Hyogo Medical University, I have only the best things to say. They have been a great support and set us accommodation in the student dorm, very close to the hospital. The accommodation with free breakfast and dinner gave us a real experience of Japanese students' lifestyle and local cuisine with very nice people in the dorm.

In the first few days, I figured out how hospitable and good hosts people in Japan are. Their hospitality, in fact, amazed me because I really felt during my whole stay there as one of them and never felt unwanted. As my wish is to become a neurosurgeon in the future, I have been at the Neurosurgery Department during my whole internship. The doctors and all the staff were very nice to me, helped me so much in developing my skills, explained to me anything I asked them and made my stay there much easier and better. I would like to give special thanks to Professor Yoshimura and his team for giving me this opportunity. I was amazed at how they always tried to explain to me everything. Their mentoring of younger residents by experienced doctors and mentors is excellent, which is unfortunately not so common in Europe. I think that young doctors in Japan are very happy to have such good mentors who are willing to teach them and transfer their experience to them.

The hospital was really nicely decorated, modern, very clean and organized. There are numerous departments, but it is all indicated on the walls, so it is very easy to figure out how to get somewhere. All the operating rooms were very big, with all the modern equipment, experienced staff and great doctors. Regarding their operating work, I was really surprised at how meticulous they were before, during and after the operation, doing their best to make the patient comfortable as much as possible and to perform the best operation. Sometimes, that did affect the operating schedule and operating time, but they didn’t change their work routine because of that, meaning that they didn’t stress about the delay because they wanted to do their job perfectly. Also, I was really amazed by the work done by the Hyogo’s Neurosurgery Department as they have done really complicated and tough neurosurgical cases without any problems, showing how skilled and experienced the neurosurgeons were there.

I must thank also the administration staff for their very good support during our stay, as we get all the necessary information and equipment on time.

As I said, the assumptions by Europeans regarding Japan are mostly true, but what really surprised me and what I didn’t expect was how Japanese people and doctors that I met are so polite, accessible, and warm-hearted people. Their hospitality really amazed me and I frankly recommend anyone who has a chance to come to Hyogo Medical University to take the opportunity, it is really worth it.