University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Report

When I was traveling Osaka last year for sight seeing, I was immediately overwhelmed, therefore there was no doubt about applying for an internship here to not only get to know the city a litte better, but mostly the people, the culture and the medical system in such a highly modernized city such as Osaka. The arrival was very easy and comfortable due to a provided map by the university. The train runs directly from the airport to Tennoji (The area of the hospital). After my arrival, the secreatary of international affairs, who helped me with my application and stayed in touch me with for the entire time, escorted me to the apartment for international students. The apartment is a great idea, because people from foreign countries have the opportunity to make friendships and discover the city together. Furthermore, the appartment is very nice, provides the students with everything they need and is located so close to the hospital, you can throw a tennisball over there. I arrived on a friday (i can only recommend that !! ), so I was able to enjoy the weekend with the other students and acclimate to time and the weather, which is very hot and humid during the summer.

On monday, my first of 5 classes began, the plastic surgery. I was welcomed very friendly and even though there were some language barrieres, everybody showed so much effort to translate conferences and operative technics in English. In the orthopedic department for instance, the conferences were all held in English only because of me and in the neurosurgery department, English is used on a daily base. However, even if that was not the case, there was always somebody sitting next to me, trying to translate the most significant facts in English, so I was able to follow the speaker.

Especially the welcoming parties, in which doctors and students had dinner together at a restaurant outside the working time, were a great opportunity to get to know everyone a little better and to strengthen the team work and even find some friends. Each department offered welcoming parties for their students, maybe to attract them to their field of medicine, maybe only to eat, maybe just to talk. However, it helped me a lot to finally arrive in Osaka and have a marvellous start in each department. Especially the hospitality and the interest of our Japanese colleques was very impressive and refreshing.

I was able to observe the operations in the field of plastic surgery for 2 weeks, just like the other deperatmentes. Compared to Germany, the spectrum of the plastic surgery at the Osaka City University is immense, so I was able to learn a lot about many different surgeries. My following departments I visited were the neurosurgery, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology as well as the oncological surgery. In each department, the staff and doctors were very kind and courteous and did everything to make me feel comfortable and welcomed. Even if Japan has the reputation of being very strict, I had a very different impression - a very positive impression - because of the easy and casual atmosphere they created around the internatioal students. Although the learning was always the number one priority, everybody was open for fun and showed passion about teaching (especially the professors) as well as giving tips for sight seeing or restaurants.

All the departmens had their own unique charme and characters, what i really enjoyed. Of course all the departments were worth to visit and I was very happy with my choice, however, I could identify myself the most with the orthopedics due to my great interest in the field of sportsmedicine and the accompanied surgery. The option of rotating each two weeks gives one the chance to gain a very good - superficial, but good - overview of a lot of different aspects of medicine with their operations and patients. All of the doctors I have met or watched operate made a very competent impression on me.

As my last words I would like to mention, that for me as a german it was easy to acclimate to the structures, manners, mentality and the social intercourse among the doctors, students and other people. I was able to draw many parallels to my home city/country and the medical system, what pleased and comforted me. Japan is one of the countries, that I respect and appreciate the most, regarding the people, the structure, the ambitiousness, punctuality and the openness for foreign countries and visitors.

I am very glad and thankful for the opportunity to do an internship at the Osaka City University. I can highly recommend to apply for an internship or even a specialization at the Osaka City University. I as well hope to be able to come back to practice and learn more in such an exciting and globalized city like Osaka.

Thank you for everything.

Best regards

Christopher Blueggel