My great experience at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

I went to Philadelphia to observe Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

First, when I observed some conferences, I was surprised that everyone that were joining in the conference spoke or asked something. In Japan, someone always is silence. I think this attitude is very important because by joining in conversations, we can think positively and have own idea.

Second, I was also surprised that the US doctors didn't act important to patients. But I thought this might be because of the difference of health insurance systems. In the US, patients always can select their own treatment. If the US doctors suggested poor patients to receive expensive treatments, they couldn't pay medical expenses. But in Japan, all the people can receive almost good treatments at low cost. So Japanese doctors, in many cases, can demand that patients receive the treatment. Because of this Japanese doctors tend to be self-important to patients, I think so. Though this fact sounds good, I think this system cause many Japanese doctors ignoring the sense of money. When I observed pediatrics, a fat child came. He is only a little fat, not a sick person, but the doctor told him and his mother kindly that he must have non-fat milk or 2% fat reduced milk instead of whole milk, and have yogurt instead of cheese and exercise more. In Japan, anybody doesn't go to hospitals on the ground that he or she is fat. There were many fat people in the US. The US doctors understand deeply the fact that he or she is fat accounts for various diseases. In family medicine, I was asked by the US doctor "What do you eat in Japan? "I answered "I mainly eat vegetables and rice. "In the US, vegetables are very expensive, so most American people eat McDonald or like that. The US doctors advise citizens not to eat foods like that to prevent diseases. I was said "Japanese food was so healthy! "But there are many diabetic patients in Japan. I think we must prevent diseases whether we can receive good care at low cost or not. Because we are blessed with food! We must re-recognize this fact.
Through this program, I could know many good points of the US and I think I could see Japan objectively. In addition to this, in JeffHOPE, I was surprised of high level of awareness of American medical students. In the class of Dr. Majdan, he explained EKG to us very kindly and slowly. Because I didn't get used to fast English listening, I was very glad about his kindness. He gave lessons for 3 days only for us. And he taught us the importance of thinking. I never forget this mindset. This program is my valuable experience. I will be trying to this program to my future's career.

Finally, I greatly appreciate Dr.Ishimura, Dr.Sato, Dr.Majdan, Ms.Radi, and all the people I concerned through this program. Thank you so much!