Exchange Program
University of the Philippines College of Medicine
April 4th 2016 to April 28th 2016

Kobe University College of Medicine 6th year
1103518M Maasa Ogata

1. Introduction
I attended an elective rotation at Philippine
General Hospital (PGH) for 4 weeks from April 4th2016 to April 28th 2016. PGH is one of the largest
national general hospitals in Philippines and it isuniversity hospital of University of thePhilippines College of Medicine. I rotated the first
2 weeks in the Department of General Medicine
and the last 2 weeks in the Department ofCardiology.

2. Department of General Medicine
Department of General Medicine is consisted of 6 services, and each service is incharge of different patients. I belonged to the service as well. One of the clerks, 4thyear medical students from University of the Philippines, was my buddy and I
sticked with him while I stayed in general medicine.
Schedule for the day
TimeSchedule

7:00~9:00

Morning Endorsement

9:00~10:00

Department of Medicine Audit

10:00~13:00

Procedures
Write charts

13:00~16:00

Case Management by Medical
Students

16:30~

Evening Endorsement

What I was surprised at the most in
Department of General Medicine was that
medical students were responsible forpatients in the wards, as if they were doctors.
In PGH, clerks and interns were in charge ofthe patients and they did procedures such as
blood extraction, writing charts, monitoring,ordering exams, and so on. Endorsements andduty were also in their curriculums, and I feltthat the medical students in Philippines arerequired more than those in Japan. I did blood extraction and intravenous line
insertion as well every day.
PGH has 2 kinds of wards, and that is “Charity Ward” for poor patients and “PaidWard” for patients who can afford medical expenses. Department of General
Medicine sees patients in “Charity Ward”. In the “Charity Ward”, 50 patients arein 1 big room with no air conditioning, and it seemed insanitary.

3. Department of Cardiology
In the Department of Cardiology, I attended conferences and observed 2D echoes,
catheter procedures, and out-patient clinics. In Philippines, medical education isdone in English, and conferences and lectures were also all done in English. Mostof the patients speak English, but daily conversations between Filipinos are
Tagalog so the out-patient clinics were all done in Tagalog.
Schedule for the day
TimeSchedule

8:00~10:00

Preoperative Conference

10:00~12:00

Out Patient Clinic

13:00~15:00

2D Echo Lecture

15:00~17:00

Observing 2D Echo

On the last week, I had the opportunity tointerview and do the physical examination of apatient at out-patient clinic. It was a case of mitral
stenosis and mitral regurgitation from rheumaticheart disease, which is not seen as much in Japan. Iwas asked to write a case report and make apresentation. Since it was my first time to do it inEnglish I had a hard time completing it, but it was avaluable experience for me. At the same time, I
noticed the importance of gaining medical
knowledge not only in Japanese but also in English.

4. Daily lives in Philippines
During my stay in Philippines, I rented a condominium just across the street
from the university. There are many condominiums near the university, and many
students and doctors live there. The area I stayed seemed to be relatively safe, but

it was insecure compared to Japan. Eachshop had security guards with guns, andI was told not to go out at night or walk
into narrow streets.
April is the dry season and we rarely
had rain. It is the hottest time of the year.
In the weekends, I did small trips toPalawan Island and Cebu Island with students from the United States. I enjoyedsnorkeling in the clear ocean and canyoning in the river. It was such a niceexperience.
The medical students I met were all very kind and welcoming. They invited me todinner and took me to many sightseeing places. We had a lot of topics to talk about,such as the difference of medical care between Philippines and Japan. It was very
nice to know them and I am willing to keep in touch with them.

5. Conclusion
I was anxious at first before going to Philippines, because it was my first visit
and my first time abroad just by myself. However, after it started, I had so manythings to learn and it was exciting every day that time passed very fast. At the end
I even wanted to stay longer.
Through this experience, I am more willing to study abroad for a longer period oftime in the future. Also I found out what I have to do and what I need from now on.
I would like to make use of this experience to my future.
At last, I would like to thank Dr. Kuno, Dr. Kitamura, Dr. Susie Sio, and all thepeople who were involved in this program for giving me this opportunity.