Michael Matzさん

The month I spent in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Urology at Hyogo Medical University was an incredibly educational and valuable time. I hope to do it justice in this short report.

I found out about University of Würzburg´s partnership with Hyogo Medical University early on in my studies on the Faculty of Medicine's website. As it had always been clear to me that I would like to spend part of my medical studies abroad, I decided early on to apply for this exchange. Japan, combining its unique culture, high level of industrialization and modern medicine, particularly appealed to me as an exchange destination. After the successful interview in Würzburg, some time passed before we received our rotation plans from Madoka Aki from the International Office in the run-up to the exchange. She kindly picked us up in Osaka on the day of our arrival in Japan, a Sunday, and accompanied us by train to the hospital to take us to our accommodation, the university's guest house. This small house offered both of us exchange students more than enough space and was incredibly comfortable.
Prior to arriving, I taught myself hiragana and katakana via Duolingo, which at least is very useful for learning the characters themselves. Important phrases, basic vocabulary and kanji for terms such as entry and exit, genders or cardinal points proved to be helpful as well. Although I hardly knew any Japanese, I therefor was still able to at least show respect, introduce myself and, if necessary, communicate with the few people, for example in restaurants, who hardly spoke any English.

I spent the first two weeks of my exchange in the Department of Neurosurgery under Professor Shinichi Yoshimura. Here, my internship began every day at 8 a.m. with the morning meeting, which was held in English and at which the cases of the day were presented. I had my own desk in the office, from which I took part in the morning meeting held via Zoom. Unlike in Germany, neurosurgery not only covers surgical procedures in the narrower sense, but also endovascular radiological interventional procedures. Many of the doctors work as "hybrid surgeons" in both fields. Every day I was free to decide which procedures I wanted to observe. I therefore spent most of my time in the Interventional Radiology Center and was able to observe the use of various flow diverters, coils and stents. Occasionally I was even allowed to assist Professor Yoshimura and some of his colleagues during procedures. In the operating room, I was able to observe bypasses, tumor excisions and various spinal operations. All the doctors in the IVR as well as in the OR tried their very best to translate and explain as much as possible for me. The radiology assistants and OR nurses were also incredibly kind and helpful. During these two weeks, I was also lucky enough to have some 4th year students rotating through the department every week. I was able to make great connections and friendships with them and we usually went to the cafeteria together at lunchtime, which was even free for us as exchange students. The department also regularly hosts exchange doctors from all over Asia. Their daily routine was very similar to mine and I also got on with them very well. You can tell that the department enjoys both teaching and passing on their knowledge!

My second rotation was in the Department of Urology. Here too, I was welcomed incredibly friendly. On my very first morning, I was shown to a desk labeled with my name in the residents' room, where I also had my own locker. Dr. Mori introduced me to the department and took me to the morning meeting, which took place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 am. Here, the doctors always made sure that someone explained to me what was being discussed in Japanese. Professor Shingo Yamamoto himself often interrupted the meeting briefly to give a summary in English just for me. Surgeries took place on the three days of the week mentioned above, and here too I was always free to choose what I wanted to observe. Every doctor here was very friendly and open to me. Already on the very first day, I was allowed to assist in the surgery. This was a really generous gesture, especially considering the heavily theoretical medical training in Japan. Sometimes while observing DaVinci operations, a senior doctor would even sit next to me for the whole morning and explain the procedure to me in English. I was also able to observe some pediatric urological procedures under the supervision of Dr. Kanematsu, who was also incredibly committed to explaining the various surgeries to me and gave me a really good impression of pediatric urology over those two weeks. Tuesdays and Thursdays were outpatient clinic days, and in most cases Professor Yamamoto himself let me join him in the mornings and explained the treatments and patient history to me in great detail. Even though I hardly understood anything during the actual patient consultations in Japanese, here I was able to get a better impression of the Japanese healthcare system and the doctor-patient relationship. In the afternoons on these two days of the week, I either accompanied junior doctors performing biopsies or radiological diagnostics or was allowed to leave after lunchtime. For lunch, although I could have eaten for free in the cafeteria as I mentioned, I was often invited to really good restaurants in the surrounding area, where I had lunch with some of the residents. Despite the language barrier, I got on incredibly well with the residents and was able to learn a lot about Japan, medical training and everyday working life in both funny and reflective conversations. One evening, the entire department celebrated at a Yakiniku restaurant. Here I was able to get to know the doctors even better. I think the fact that three of the doctors even invited me to a karaoke bar after dinner is a good example of the warmth and openness I encountered here.

We were incredibly lucky to get to know so many Japanese people during our stay. Be it through the students on rotation, through the members of the English Club who took care of us very well, through the doctors or through students who simply approached us in the cafeteria and wanted to talk to us. Everyone was unimaginably open-minded, warm and hospitable towards us. The many evenings we spent together with our now actual friends were probably the highlight of my exchange. Due to the hospital's proximity to Osaka, just 15 minutes away from Osaka Umeda on the Hanshin Line, we were able to get to know the city, and its food, very well over the course of the month. On the weekends we went on trips to Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima, Himeji and Kyoto. These trips alone would have been worth the trip to Japan. The fact that they were embedded in a clinical internship, which, like hardly any other kind of stay, allowed me to experience the country´s culture and not only meet people but even make friends shows the unsurpassable amounts of impressions I gained.

I can only encourage everyone to apply for the student exchange program with Hyogo Medical University. The enthusiasm and effort that the doctors in Nishinomiya put into teaching me was amazing.
I am incredibly grateful for my time at Hyogo Medical University, which helped me grow a lot both professionally and personally. I very much hope to see my friends again, be it in Germany or when I maybe come back to Japan someday. I will treasure the experiences and impressions for a long time and hopefully take the hospitality and openness I experienced as an example for myself!

I want to deeply thank the doctors, the medical students and everybody involved at Hyogo Medical University!