With generous and long-term support from various students in Japan, Hawaii, and the States, the 9th Clinical Dojo with JABSOM was successfully held via Zoom on January 23rd, 2022, from 2 PM to 4 PM (JST).

The big picture of this program is we share a brand-new opportunity to practice English in the medical setting, especially in partnership with the esteemed students from JABSOM.

The following is the comment from Amanda, one of the event organizers:

My name is Amanda Tsuhako and I’m a second year medical student at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii.

This was our 9th Clinical Dojo and we decided to make the case a little bit easier to encourage English-learners at all levels to participate in the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) activity.

This month, our patient was Tammy Wada, a 24-year-old Caucasian female who presented to the emergency room with cough, fever, and fatigue for 3 days. We then used the breakout rooms to discuss facts, hypotheses, and need-to-knows to figure out what was going on with the patient. Some hypotheses included COVID-19, pneumonia, common cold, influenza, and pregnancy.

It was interesting that one student did not know the word, “Caucasian.” We then discussed that in Japan, the majority of the patients are Japanese. However, in America, there are a wide-array of races and it is an important demographic in medicine.

I’m always very impressed with the Clinical Dojo participants. Our differential diagnoses were broad and our need-to-knows were thorough. By working through the case together, we managed to diagnose Tammy with influenza.

Lastly, during the case, we find out that Tammy was anti-vax and hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Our amazing facilitator, Shunya Hishinuma, prepared an activity using the Google Jamboard, so we could discuss how to talk to patients who are vaccine hesitant. It was a great discussion and everyone was so kind, thoughtful, and empathetic. I would love to have everyone as my future doctor one day!

Please check out our Jamboards below:

In conclusion, Clinical Dojo is a powerful tool for international exchange and English-proficiency for medical students. We will all become better doctors thanks to this collaboration. Thank you to our awesome team: Shunya, Hinako, Aki, and Dillon!

The following are some comments from the participants:

“Thank you for having such a wonderful program today. Although this is my first time joining the program of Team WADA, I had a good time. The content itself was interesting and definitely a great help for me to improve not only my medical skills but also the ability to speak English.”

“I attended Clinical Dojo for the first time, However, I was able to speak anything without hesitation because you kept it a good atmosphere.”

“英語での臨床推論、患者教育について話し合うことができ、とても良い経験となりました。”

This program will be held 12 times in total, with only 3 times left. We’ve tweaked the content every time so that the participants feel comfortable actively joining in the discussion.

As the lead organizer of this program, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all. I strongly see the comforting sense of achievement that we have from being able to give others what we didn’t have earlier in Japan, which is amazing. I appreciate everyone for your sincere support for this program, with a special shout-out to Hannah, Aki, Amanda, and Dillon.

The next session is scheduled on March 27th, from 2 PM in Japan; March 26th, from 7 PM in Hawaii.

We’re waiting for you to come. I can assure you that you will have an awesome experience ever in your med school life in Japan.

Stay healthy, stay safe, & stay tuned!

Shunya Hishinuma, the lead organizer of Clinical Dojo with JABSOM

Event organizers:

Application form: (via Google Form)
https://forms.gle/p3PQV1woZotWEMKdA