College Hosts Doshisha Scholars for Summer 2007 Knowledge Exchange
F or a little over three weeks this summer (Aug. 7-29), six pharmacy students from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts (DWCLA), Kyoto, Japan, participated in an intensive educational and experiential program at the College and at University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC).
This was the first in what both schools expect will be a continuing collaboration. The major architect of this inaugural program and its activities was Associate Dean Lynda S. Welage, BSPharm’81, PharmD.
While Japan does not offer a PharmD degree, the nation is in the process of switching from a four-year to a six-year pharmacy education requirement, including experiential training to increase clinical skills and knowledge. The DWCLA students who visited Ann Arbor this summer had completed two years of the current four-year degree program.
Following their formal presentation, Thursday, Aug. 30, the six DWCLA students and DWCLA faculty advisor Kazumasa Naruhashi gathered with College faculty and friends for a final group photo. Pictured, left to right, front row: Lynda S.Welage, BSPharm’81, PharmD, associate dean and professor of pharmacy; Rie Takeda(DWCLA); Yurie Nakao(DWCLA); Mayako Hashimoto(DWCLA); Naoko Fujikawa(DWCLA); Dean Frank J. Ascione, BSPharm’69, PharmD’73, PhD; Kirara Hatanaka(DWCLA); Miki Akizuki(DWCLA); P-4 student Duong Nguyen; P-4 student Anna Sutherland; Kazumasa Naruhashi, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Clinical Pharmaceutics, DWCLA; and Nancy A.Mason, BSPharm’76, PharmD’81, clinical associate professor and director, Experiential Training Program. Back row: Steve Stout, PharmD’07, resident, UMHHC; Nabil Khalidi, PharmD’74, director of international programs and clinical associate professor of pharmacy; and Bruce Mueller, PharmD, professor and chair, Department of Clinical, Social, and Administrative Sciences, and assistant director, pharmacy services, UMHHC.
The main objective of the program was to familiarize the Doshisha students with pharmaceutical care as it fits within the American healthcare system. They did grand rounds of diverse community practice sites, all manner of hospital practice sites affiliated with UMHHC, and many other representative sites as well. At each stop, they were accompanied by College faculty, U-M Pharmacy residents, and/or Michigan PharmD student hosts. Between clinical exposures, they took clinical-intensive course- work at the College, taught by College faculty.
A secondary objective of the program was to provide opportunities for DWCLA students to interact with and get to know Pharmacy students and faculty. The opportunities here, too, were plentiful with free-time excursions to museums; a professional baseball game; shopping centers; a bowling alley; local restaurants, student hangouts, and night spots; an American-style cookout at the home of Peter Niedbala, director of pharmacy advancement and external relations; and water-sports on area lakes courtesy of boat-owners Clinical Associate Professor Deborah Wagner, BSPharm’76, PharmD’82, and Bruce Mueller, PharmD, chair and professor, Department of Clinical, Social, and Administrative Sciences.
“In their closing assessments, Doshisha students gave overall excellent marks to the didactic and clinical experiential portions of the program, and top marks to the cookout and boating,” notes Nabil Khalidi, PharmD’74, director of international programs, who orchestrated this collaborative achievement. “We were all proud of the way our Doshisha students adapted and performed. They not only became adept at translating our American way of speaking, they also mastered difficult subject matter and an entirely new form of medical terminology. They brought honor to their nation, their families, their university, and themselves.”
The six students — Miki Akizuki, Naoko Fujikawa, Mayako Hashimoto, Kirara Hatanaka, Yurie Nakao, and Rie Takeda — closed out the educational component of their Ann Arbor visit with a formal presentation on Thursday, Aug. 30.
“The Doshisha students presented well, coached by P-4 students Anna Sutherland and Duong Nguyen, and resident Stephen Stout, PharmD’07,” Khalidi remarks. “Many Michigan Pharmacy students took part in hosting our Doshisha students, but those three in particular made a huge difference. They were guardian angels. They ate with our Doshisha visitors; studied with them; helped them develop cases; translated complex concepts; went with them on rounds; lectured them; and, in the process, learned tremendously from them.”
Kazumasa Naruhashi, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmaceutics at DWCLA , accompanied the six students to the U.S. He often joined them on site visits, clinical rotations, and even didactic sessions. What most impressed him about American pharmacy practice was the speed with which U.S. pharmacists make decisions.
By comparison, Japanese pharmacists take a “slower, more conservative approach” to patient care, Naruhashi notes. “Japanese patients are reluctant to try medications that have a risk, even when the benefit might outweigh the risk,” he says. “Treatment takes longer, and this approach isn’t always practical.”
Naruhashi believes that Japanese pharmacists could benefit from the systematic thinking of Michigan pharmacists, but with modifications to account for Japanese cultural nuances.
The College’s educational philosophy also won over Naruhashi; particularly the emphasis on diverse clinical experiences, and on personalized teaching. “I could see how dedicated the faculty are to teaching,” he observes. “They teach students one or two at a time, which is how I like to teach.”
Naruhashi was also touched by the all-out generosity of the College’s extended family.
“Everyone made us feel welcome and encouraged us to be fully involved,” he notes. “We had incredible educational and cultural learning experiences. Our students learned a lot, and so did their teacher.”
