03/07/18  Portland, Ore.

OHSU Family Medicine and Japan Association for the Development of Community Medicine (JADECOM) have partnered to create an International Residency Exchange Program.

JADECOM residents visit OHSU Family Medicine in Portland, Oregon for rotations that typically last three months. During their rotations JADECOM residents participate in a variety of activities including medical classes, meetings, Faculty Development sessions, clinical observations, and rotations at a variety of rural health care centers located throughout Oregon. To learn more about our Japanese exchange program, JADECOM, click here.

Below are our visitors for March, 2018.

Mari Fujisawa

Describe your hometown (Aoyama, Tokyo): In Tokyo, we can eat delicious food from all over the world - that's the best thing about Tokyo, I think. I love Aoyama because even though it is located in the center of Tokyo, there is a lot of greenery.

Education: I graduated from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Yamaguchi University this March. 

Describe your university: My university is located in Yamaguchi prefecture, the east side of Japan. It is surrounded on three sides by the sea; Seto Inland Sea and Japan Sea.

What else should we know about you? My first trip to a foreign country was just four years ago. I spent five months in Boston and made many great memories. Since then, I've been interested in the western style medicine. I'm really excited to practice at OHSU. My hobbies are playing tennis, traveling and cooking.

Rika Shimizu

Describe your hometown: My hometown, Takayama is one of the most famous sightseeing spots in Japan.Takayama has acquired three stars in the Michelin tour guidebook.The main reason for this high rating is our "Old Town" (Sanmachi) where wooden buildings from the Edo Period are still used as houses and shops as well as the Takayama Festival and its beautiful floats. They also have hot springs, local food, local Japanese sake and so on! Unfortunately in terms of medical care, we're suffering from a lack of doctors because this area is very remote and vast. So I'm planning to go back to my hometown and work there in the future.

Education: I'm a fifth year student at Gifu University. I finished my last year training at my university hospital, and since last December I've been doing practical training at other hospitals of my choosing. When we are in our first year, we study medicine as well as other various disciplines. Since we can choose whatever I like, I chose agriculture and made ice cream from fresh milk! In our second year, we study basic medicine such as dissection and biochemistry. After that, until the start of practical training we take classes for each department.

Describe your university / hospital: Gifu University hospital and its medical department moved to its current location about 10 years ago. It is the only university hospital in Gifu prefecture and has more than 20 departments. Medical helicopters often fly in because the hospital is responsible for covering such a wide area. However, we don't have the department of Family Medicine, so I'm really looking forward to this visit.

What else should we know about you? This is my first visit to the US! I'm really interested in health care and family medicine in the US, so I want to meet a lot of people. I'm also excited to visit popular spots in Portland. In my free time, I like music (playing the piano and trombone), and traveling.

Haruka Yoshikawa

Describe your hometown: I was born and raised in Fukui. My favorite thing about my hometown is that people are very kind and gentle. Although they are not good at showing their kindness, they always give a hand to anyone when needed.

Education: After graduation from Fujishima high school in Fukui, I entered Fukui University in April 2012 and expect to graduate in March 2018.

Describe your university / hospital: In Fukui, where my university is located, primary medicine is relatively developed and there many great general medicine doctors in the community. In my time at the university, I've had opportunities to observe local medicine in Fukui. The doctors and medical staff worked hard to understand patients' needs, and I was impressed with their dedication.

What else should we know about you? In my campus life, I belong to a Japanese style tea ceremony club. I also like music, and I frequently play the piano or the guitar to lax. In my career, I would like to be involved in a palliative care medicine.