Nikola Donchevさん（ブルガリア・ソフィア医科大学 第6学年次）

My name is Nikola Donchev and I am a 6th year medical student in Sofia, Bulgaria. I had the amazing opportunity to take part in a clinical clerkship in Hyogo College of Medicine in November 2019. It was an unforgettable experience for me and it surpassed all of my expectations.

My clerkship was in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Right from the first day I was allowed in the OP rooms and I managed to see my first ever Da Vinci robot assisted surgery.

Every morning my tutor presented the program of procedures for the day and I got to choose what to see and where to go. All of the doctors in the department were extremely kind to me and took their time to answer all of my questions. I got to spend a lot of time in every area of the specialty – inpatient clinic, reproductive medicine and assisted reproductive technology, genetic counseling, operative gynecology – open and laparoscopic surgery, normal and pathological obstetrics.

Thanks to this clerkship I was able to see procedures that I have only read about in me text books – colposcopy, oocyte pick-up, embryo transfer and a lot of ultrasound. My favorite time was every Tuesday and Friday when I watched operations – some of which quite rare – Asherman syndrome and Androgen insensitivity syndrome. In the second half of my stay in Japan I was allowed to join in several open operations as second or third assistant, including Cesarean Sections and total hysterectomy. It was amazing!

Wednesdays I joined the weekly report of the department and got to practice my knowledge on pathological pregnancies. I also have to grand the fault of my knowledge on assisted reproduction and my newly found interest in this area exclusively to the doctors from the department.

In my free time between procedures I was allowed to use the library in the doctors` room which was full with top quality literature – in this way I gained both knowledge and practice.

Every day after the internship and weekends we (me and the other exchange student from Bulgaria) explored Kansai area which holds some of Japan’s most famous towns and historical spots. We felt extremely lucky as the weather was sunny almost every day and we enjoyed the beautiful autumn leaves (koyo!) in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. Each town had its unique style and we had lots of fun everywhere we went.

Some nights we got to get out with my tutors for sushi and shabu shabu and quite frankly these nights were my favorite. We also had the chance to spend time with Japanese medical students – they were super kind and planned a whole day in Osaka for us. Spending times with natives in the free time made me appreciate Japanese culture in a way that would have never been possible otherwise.

My time spent in Japan is a very precious memory for me. I got to practice and train in a specialty that I love and explored a one-of-a-kind country in the meanwhile.

One of the professors in the department said to me just before I left for Bulgaria that he hopes this internship will contribute to me being a better doctor in the future.
To that I can say that I am sure it has.