Japanese Medical Students’ Month in Lithuania: Professional Experiences and Cultural Impressions

Having spent a month at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), eighteen students from Japan are concluding their stay in Lithuania and returning home.

During this period, the visiting students enhanced their professional knowledge, became acquainted with a different academic environment and culture, and broadened their horizons by exploring the country.

On 24 April, a ceremony marking the end of the visit was held at the LSMU Emmanuel Levinas Centre. During the meeting, the students from the International University of Health and Welfare (IUHW) in Japan were presented with clinical placement certificates.

“I am certain that some of you will become outstanding specialists in your fields. Perhaps in the future we shall see your names in academic publications and feel proud. I hope that these four weeks have helped you decide what you truly want and have provided you with experience that you will be able to draw upon in your future careers,” said Prof. Dr Ingrida Janulevičienė, Dean of the University’s International Relations and Studies Centre, in her address to the students.

The students from Japan, who had arrived in Lithuania at the end of March, were each provided with individually tailored programmes, allowing them to gain first-hand experience not only of academic study but also of clinical work.

“You worked alongside other students in operating theatres and are a truly remarkable example. It is important to note that you came not only for yourselves and your own experience, but for us as well. Our academic staff who worked with you may not have had any specific expectations but afterwards emphasised that they too had learnt from you. And that is what matters most,” said Prof. Dr Andrius Macas, Dean of the University’s Faculty of Medicine, highlighting the value of the exchange.

The students from Japan expressed their gratitude for the warm welcome and their time filled with memorable experiences. As Haruki Kitamura, the leader of the Japanese student group, noted, the programme had been meticulously planned, and the month in Lithuania had passed remarkably quickly.

“I was very anxious when we arrived. Not one of us had ever been to Lithuania before. We were not sure whether we would feel welcome. But it turned out there was nothing to worry about. The entire University community is very friendly. We learnt about a different culture, cuisine, and language, met new people, and formed new friendships,” said H. Kitamura, expressing sincere gratitude to the organisers for the experience.

His sentiments were echoed by fellow student Keito Tashiro, who was most struck by his experience in the operating theatre.

“It was truly brilliant! Everyone was kind and welcoming. I particularly enjoyed the placement at the hospital – I observed surgeries and doctors working at an extraordinary pace. In Japan there tend to be around two surgeries per day, so it came as quite a surprise that in Lithuania there are so many, and that they are carried out so swiftly. The culture differs as well – Lithuanian students are confident and outgoing. But what impressed me most of all was the architecture,” recounted K. Tashiro, for whom this was his first visit not only to Lithuania, but to Europe as a whole.

There was no shortage of cultural activities either – the visiting students were invited to the Lithuanian Museum of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy, the University’s Museum of Anatomy, the Emmanuel Levinas Centre, the Sugihara House, and the Curonian Spit (Nida), the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A reciprocal visit by LSMU students to IUHW is already being planned for this coming autumn.