Dr. Boon Phoe OOI

The JSGE Research Fellowship Award is the most innovative and impressive short stint fellowships accorded to Asian follows to promote and improve the standard of gastroenterology in Asia. Being the leader in gastroenterology, JSGE has given the fellows a golden chance to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity.

After participating in this unparalleled programme, I have nothing but high praises for its organization and the opportunity to observe close up the efficient and advanced manner in which gastroenterology department in Japan runs their endoscopy unit, wards, research and training. It will definitely serve as a good memory for me in the years to come.

On a personal note, I was extremely grateful to the society as well as my attachment university hospital (Jichi Medical University) staffs together with my supervisor (Prof Yamamoto) for looking after me so well. Their willingness to teach and friendly demeanor together with their easy accessibility made my stay extremely comfortable even in a foreign environment.

The opportunity to do hands on training in Japan is definitely the highlight of my 3 month attachment in Japan. Even though I would have loved to have a few more weeks of hands on, the ACT being under the purview of the Japan Ministry meant that timing was out of everyone’s control. However, the time that I had for hands on was unquestionably the most interesting time I had in Japan because double balloon endoscopy in my country doesn’t yet have a good foothold and not done as frequently as in Japan. Hence the techniques that I was taught by the consultants in Jichi Medical University will definitely help me become more confident of the procedure and I hope that it will help me spread the knowledge in my country and help make the procedure more common. In addition, I was also taught FICE and ESD which is a technology in its infancy in my country. The exposure of these technologies in Japan through this scholarship will hopefully promote these helpful new technologies to my as well as other country.

In short all fellows who wishes to push their boundaries in areas less available in their countries should definitely try to apply for this golden opportunity under JSGE in order to improve the standard of gastroenterology in their respective countries.

Japan is the most advance country in medical gastroenterology science in Asia. The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE) plays as its leading institution and it gives opportunity to Asian young gastroenterologists who keen on studying and on committing research by a particular program, the JSGE Research Fellowship Program. The program supports fellows to pursue training for 3 months in hospitals. The objectives were to foster closer cooperation among Asian gastroenterologists while improving knowledge and experiences in Gastroenterology.

The Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine is one of the medical centers selected for the JSGE Research Fellowship Program in 2009. I was supervised by Prof. Tooru Shimosegawa and Dr. Akira Imatani. The Tohoku University Hospital is located in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tohoku Region, Japan. The hospital has a busy endoscopy center and it performs endoscopic submucosal dissection to achieve en bloc excision of early gastric or esophageal malignancies for about 190 patients per year. Some rare and complicated cases were referred to the hospital, e.g. esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis, intestinal tuberculosis, intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas, and islet cell tumor.

All of the medical doctors, nurses, and other staffs were really supportive and they fully encouraged me. By the end of my enrolment, I have gained much new experiences and knowledge on gastroenterology benefiting for my future carrier and for my institution, the Gastroenterology Division of the Gadjah Mada University School of Medicine, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Catharina Triwikatmani

It is a great honor to be one of the recipients of the JSGE Research Fellowship Program Award 2009. I would like to say my deepest gratitude to the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology and Asahikawa Medical College for giving me the opportunity to further training. I finished my medical school in 1997 and I have obtained specialization in Gastroenterology in 2004. My main interest is treatment of viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. I am also interested in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment. I had been very worried before I came to Japan because I couldn’t communicate with Japanese. Moreover I never have heard about Asahikawa. It was unfamiliar place to me. But when I arrived at Asahikawa, the doctors of Asahikawa Medical College gave me a warm welcome and they could speak English well. So I could feel at easy and throw away the worries. At the Asahikawa Medical College hospital, I saw a lot of cases of endoscopic procedures including double balloon enteroscopy. I could observe and discuss about the treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma, too. I appreciate Dr. Suzuki showed me a lot of cases of CEUS(contrast enhanced ultrasound) which is very useful for the diagnosis and treatment of HCC and explained the basis and usefulness of CEUS.

I could get not only the knowledge of medical practices but also a feeling of intimacy about Japan in the kindness of everybody for 3 months.

During this period I have had the opportunity to attend at the JDDW in Kyoto. It was very wonderful time.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation again to Japanese Society of Gastroenterology (JSGE) and our national society of Gastroenterology (KSGE), also to Prof. Kohgo, Dr. Fujiya and doctors of third department of Internal Medicine in Asahikawa Medical College.

Report from Dr. Tsung-Chun Lee (Keio Univ. Hospital)
With much gratitude, I finished my JSGE research fellowship training on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Keio University Hospital, where world-renowned clinical and bench researches in IBD have been accomplishing.

Doctors in Keio have been friendly, warm and taught me a lot that I will never forget. In my three-month study, I learned a lot from Prof. Hibi about being not only a patient-caring physician but also a truth-finding scientist, from Dr. Iwao about comfortable colonoscopy and endoscopic differential diagnosis of various colitis, from Dr. Kanai about research creativity, from Dr. Hisamatsu about research devotions and responsibilities as a physician, from Dr. Suzuki about focusing and doing the right thing, from Dr. Matsuoka about independent and sound scientific thinking, and from other kind doctors. By attending the daily activities of the gastroenterology division, I appreciate the esteem/seriousness of being a doctor to solving patient's problems, the happiness of confirmed diagnosis and responsive treatment, as well as the joy of academic approval in medical conferences.

In addition to bedside learning, I also learned much from participating experimental works at the bench. It's like an intensive advance mucosal immunology course for me. My knowledge of T cell expands from merely Th1, Th2 to five plasticities of T cell (Th1, Th2, Treg, Th17, Tfh), not to mention my updates in dendritic cells and NK cells. Thanks to mina, who taught me patiently with immunology experiments. It is thrilling to take part in cutting-edge experiments.

Life is unexpectedly cozy in Tokyo. Jogging around the Shingku-kaien was my way of relaxation, as well as exploring a new Lamen restaurant and taking photos in Yotsuya. As the Michelin Red Guide updated its 2010 version in Japan, I think, one day, I might be writing a Lamen guide in Tokyo.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the Chairman, Counselors, the International Committee and the JSGE for providing such great opportunity to soak into Japan gastroenterology science.

Tsung-Chun Lee, M.D.