New York Program
Kosei Hanaoka

I joined New York training program about 2 weeks (8/18/2018~8/31) as a 2-year resident.
This was the second to join this program. I participated in the program in the fifth year of medical school. Iwould like to start with an overview of the program and then what I learned through the program.

◆Medical English at Pace University
We learned not only medical English for three days, such as doctor-patient role play and case presentations
but also ways of English communication. She taught us how we should behave in front of patients, how toexpress our feeling in English and grammar and pronunciation.
The lesson went on in a warm atmosphere from beginning to end, and it was a good opportunity to relieve ourtension, which was just arriving in New York.

◆ Broadway actress Minami Workshop
Yusui Minami, who is from Kanazawa Izumioka High School and is active on the Broadway stage, opened aworkshop. It was a very exciting experience to meet Minami-san again.
I was impressed with her message, “The sky is the limit”, which means there are no limits and that anythingis possible and her gratitude she expressed to her friends and family many times.

◆ Medical interview simulation training
We had medical interview with10 simulated patients for 2 days and did physical examination for 5 cases. The
simulated patients behaved like real patients because they are active as actors and actresses. We challenged
the interviews and physical examinations under considerable strain because. We had feedback time immediately
after medical interview, and each time we got good and bad points of what they had felt as a patient and a
mistake in English grammar. Japanese medical schools usually have simulated training and OSCE exams, but
medical practice in the United States was quite different from that in Japan. This system will be great opportunity
for Japanese medical students before starting clinical practice through such a training.

◆ Mt. Sinai Medical school & Hospital & Laboratory Lunch with Satoko
A medical student from Mt.Sinai Medical school guided us to the medical school. It was a valuable opportunity
to experience the differences and similarities between Japanese and American medical school systems andeducational programs.
After a medical school tour, I met Yasuyo Yamada, who was born in Ishikawa Prefecture and currently works
as a nurse in New York. She was really an energetic and enthusiastic person. She told us about how to build up
relationships with patients. She said “I'm interested in various things in my daily life to deepen relationship withpatients. Each of patients has different backgrounds and we may not understand completely what they think.
But we can get along with them by trivial things we can get from daily life. I am always thankful for my past

because we are now there thanks to my past.ʼʼ
After that, we visited Dr.Morishita research laboratory. They research about “critical period”, which is the factor
associated with language acquisition and development of visual/hearing sense. It was a very fascinating visit<Shadowing>
We visited and shadowed Japanese doctors through last 3 days. They worked in NYC and belonged to JMSA
（Japan Medical Society of America）. I had shadowed Dr. Satoko Kanahara, who worked at Community HealthCare Network in Bronx. Bronx can be reached from Manhattan in NY in about 20 minutes by subway. However,
the atmosphere changed dramatically from Manhattan, and most of the residents were Hispanic immigrants
and refugees, who were more familiar with Spanish than English.
Dr. Kanehara speaks Spanish to communicate more smoothly with patients and to practice medical care
carefully. In order to meet the complex and diverse requirements of patients, she played many roles, such as
psychiatrists, physicians, pediatricians, OB/GYN, and social workers. She said to me “I am learning a lot frommy patients” . I was very impressed by Dr. Kanehara's attitude as a doctor.

What I felt through this New York training is various boundaries. We are often surrounded by the same kind ofpeople living in Japan, such as the same race, relatively the same income class, and the same academics. It isa so-called village society. Technology has recently developed, and I feel like I'm connected to the world via
mobile phones, the Internet, and news, making it difficult to see various boundaries. However, when I went toNew York, a boundary appeared in front of me. For example, races, cultural backgrounds, people active invarious fields, and a disparity society.
I do not want to emphasize the good or bad of having or not having a boundary. Recognizing the boundary let
us deepen the understanding of others and allows me to take myself beyond the boundary. Through various
experiences in New York, I have been able to see the boundary between myself and others in various fields.
And this is the biggest attraction of this New York program.
As Dr. Kanehara said, I will learn from patients, people, and life. As Tomoyo said, in order to deepen thepatient's understanding, I will be interested in various things of daily life. As Minami said, I would like to keep
trying for my dreams and goals with my gratitude to friends and family.
I would like to thank Professor Andrew Schneider, Dr. Kometani, all staff who may concern, and all the people
I met through the program.