Visiting Doctor's Report
Merna Airoud (Syria)
Introduction of yourself
My name is Merna Airoud (M.D.), graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Aleppo University, Syria as one of the top5% of my undergraduate course.
Since the time I started my clinical sessions as a student in the Faculty of Medicine, Gastroenterology became one of my main interests. At that time, I didn't know much about Japanese culture or language, but the thing that I knew is that
Japan is the world's number one in the field of Gastroenterology. That is why, after I finished my first year of residency I took the decision to travel to Japan to pursue my study.
And at the time being, I am preparing myself to apply for the Japanese National Medical Exam to become a specialist in Japan.
Motives to come to SUITE
Being a medical doctor interested in the field of Gastroenterology, I am motivated to learn more about endoscopy and endoscopic procedures in order to make a better understanding of this specialty in Japan.
I read about SUITE in the internet, the center-of-excellence digestive disease center around the world which has an expert team of endoscopy and endoscopic surgery under the supervision of the legendary Professor Kudo, and having had the
chance to meet him was a dream coming true for me.
Actually, learning from his experience is one of the reasons I chose SUITE . I also wanted to see what environment Professor Kudo is providing for nurturing young future doctors.
Since I started contacting the center, the secretary Ms.Yoshinaga was very cooperative and helpful in providing me with all the information I needed for the application.
Impression of SUITE
When I first came to the center, the first thing that caught my attention was the big poster in front of the doctors room with the photo of Professor Kudo on it. On the poster, the phrase " 大腸癌では死なせない" was written. I could sence the
passion of Professor Kudo even before meeting him personally.
I was well-welcomed by all the medical and secretarial staff.
The next day, I had the chance to Meet Professor Kudo which was really the greatest honor for me. I was really inspired by his enthusiasm, passion and humbleness.
I got the greatest chance to observe various endoscopic procedures such as, chromoendoscopy, magnifying endoscopy, endocytoscopy, single balloon enteroscopy, ERCP, EST and biliary stent. Additionally, I could learn the categorization of the
colorectal polyps according to Kudo's pit pattern classification.
I had the chance to observe many interventional techniques as polypectomy (conventional, cold, and EMR), ESD, balloon dilatation, endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL), and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG). Moreover, I was always
welcomed to join the daily rounds on patients, the weekly Tuesday meetings, and the weekly lectures of Professor Kudo.
On the daily basis, doctors where helpful in explaining about the principles and indications for certain diagnostic or therapeutic steps.
I have always heard how excellent Japanese are in terms of teamwork, but visiting SUITE has enabled me to experience that myself. Not only impressive teamwork environment, but also an environment that encourages the individuality of every
doctor, which reflects how positive is the environment Professor Kudo created for his medical staff.
Furthermore, I could have an access to read many papers from very famous journals which made a great help to my study in the digestive center.
I was really impressed by the Japanese patient-doctor relationship which is full of respect and cordiality.
Through this training, I got a great chance to see what it means to be a Gastroenterologist in Japan, and I hope I will be able to visit this center again in the near future.