Nguyen Minh Nghia 　2017年4月

REPORT OF VISIT TO TSUKUBA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

I have had a precious opportunity to spend 3 months at Tsukuba University Hospital from 15 April to 9 July 2017 on the program collaborated between the Plastic Department of Tsukuba University Hospital and Hanoi Medical University.

First of all, many thanks to Prof. Sekido, all doctors and residents of Plastic department for helping and supporting me during my time in Japan. They really became my teachers; my friends as well as my secondly family who helped me feel like working in my hometown. They were always willing to help, answered my question with patience, and explained the cases and learning materials kindly for me in the schema so that I could have a better understanding. Without their help, I doubt I would have been able to complete the program in such a proficient and timely manner. I consider myself very fortunate for having a chance to work with the Plastic Department of Tsukuba University Hospital. I really value the informative, useful knowledge and insight I have learnt here since it surely could help to improve the quality of our Department’s treatment in Vietnam.

My schedule is to participate in many activities of Plastic department. Some of the main activities are mentioned below:

- Joining the ward round every morning with doctors to visit patients and changing dressing in Surgery Department and also patients in ICU, HCU Departments.
- Joining the Clinique room every Wednesday and Thursday mornings with doctors
Observing operations in the operation room: some operations I have observed likes: Breast reconstruction after mastectomy using the tissue expansion and breast implant, head and neck reconstruction using the free flap, lymphaticovenular anastomosis ,treatment of the facial nerve paralysis, skin graft …
- Participating in conferences of Department every Tuesday and Friday afternoons, Traumatic conferences every month and some conferences of plastic surgery .

With this schedule and the help of all doctors, I have gained much knowledge and experiences, for example:

• Breast reconstruction: In Vietnam, National health insurance hasn’t covered yet the using tissue expansion and breast implant for breast reconstruction like in Japan, but I’m sure it will be changed in the future. Therefore, I really want to come to Japan and learn about this problem. Fortunately, I have met Prof. Sekido who had many experience about breast reconstruction. During 3 months here, he gave me many lessons and explained carefully about the technique of in the operation room. Now I believe I can apply and use this technique for my patients in Vietnam. On the other hand, I have got more experience of using the DIEP flap for breast reconstruction from Prof. Sekido.
• Lymphaticovenular Anastomosis (LVA): This is one of the latest techniques which hasn’t been implemented in Vietnam. After 3 months, I had the basic knowledge of using Indocyanine Green (ICG) for detecting the lymphatic system and using super-microsurgery for LVA. Prof. Sekido, chief of Plastic Surgery Department is willing to transfer this technique and help us to realize first cases in Vietnam so I hope in the near future we can apply this technique for our lymphedema patient.
• Head and neck reconstruction: Because of short-term visit, there were few cases of head and neck reconstruction but I am very satisfied with what I have observed: Using the ALT free flap for tongue reconstruction, the rectus abdominis free flap for facial reconstruction, the fibula osteocutaneous free flaps for mandible reconstruction… I have also observed the application of free flap to cover the defect of the hand and the foot.

Besides, I was very impressed with the network system of Tsukuba University hospital which is very good and efficient to control and follow-up patients’ data.
During these 3 months, we have also enjoyed the beautiful sightseeing at Tsukuba Mountain and many places in Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Hokkaido… I was so lucky because my study started in spring so I could enjoy the beauty of the blooming Sakura flower, the signature and most famous flower in Japan. It surely is the best experience of my life.

At last, I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and extend my sincere appreciation to:
- Prof. Minoru Akiyama - Chief, Office for the Promotion of International Medical Affairs (OPIMA) - Ms. Megumi Fukaya - Coordinator of OPIMA

Thank you very much for all your supports. I have had the great stay in Tsukuba. I did really enjoy it and I did learn a lot of things so I hope that we can continue developing the good collaboration between the Plastic Department of Tsukuba University Hospital and Hanoi Medical University.