I decided to become a doctor when I got sick in junior high school, both because I wanted to find out about the changes that had occurred in my own body and because I wanted to work in a profession that would let me help people in the same difficulties. Because I had already been aiming to work overseas, I decided to apply to Okayama University, where I could engage in global studies.
 After starting university, I made efforts to improve my English ability during my first two years, when I still had comparatively more time, by tutoring international students and attending the L-café. In my third year, I studied at the University of Helsinki in Finland on a medical research internship, using tropical fish to study brain development. During these three months of study, I was finally able to finish some figures, and the fact that I was able to contribute as a co-author of a paper boosted my confidence. Something that made a great impression while I was there was seeing students engaging proactively in activities. Compared with Japan, it was a shock to see individual students having a go at doing whatever they wanted to do, but it also made me think about what I need to do in order to learn as much as possible in the environment in which I am situated.
 In my sixth year, I studied at the University of Michigan in the U.S., taking part in a one-month clinical training program. On the first day, I asked to be allowed to study practically in the same way as local students and was actually allotted patients to treat, which was a great learning experience. Despite the differences in language and culture, I felt that there were many points in common between the roles placed by students in medical practice there and those in my training at Okayama University, and the fact that I could affirm myself as capable of working overseas as long as I studied conscientiously in Japan was a major gain.
 After graduating, I entered the University of Helsinki graduate school, where I am doing research on rare cancers in the Department of Pathology. I think that my current environment, in which I am able to use tumor samples in collaboration with a biobank, will enable me to achieve results from my research that will be directly helpful to people, and this is highly motivating. In future, I hope to contribute as a clinician to the process whereby issues are brought from clinical settings to the laboratory, and the resulting research is returned directly to those clinical settings. To this end, I am aiming to become a licensed physician in Finland, and have attended four months of clinical training. Because I came to Europe without having gained any experience at all as a doctor, I had some wretched moments when I was less accustomed to things than the other trainees or when I didn’t know the brand names of drugs, but on the final day the instructor praised me and found me a place to work next year, which made me extremely happy. I was glad that they rated the amount of knowledge I had gained in Japan, and was made freshly aware of my own strengths.
 I myself used to think that “overseas” must be something special, but have found that even if I’m worried, as long as I behave with dignity things will turn out all right. Facing new challenges without fear adds to your confidence afterwards, making you able to face the next challenge. If there’s something you want to do, don’t give up without even starting by thinking “I can’t do this”; the important thing is to be ambitious and give it a go.

As of January 2022