Summer Internship: Kameda Medical Center
By: Keaton Betterton (MHA '20)
Konnichiwa from Japan!
The past three months in Japan have flown by and I am nearing the end of my internship at Nihon Keiei Group and Kameda Medical Center. It has been a truly eye-opening experience for me in terms of both education within a healthcare system with national insurance and immersion in a new culture. I have been lucky to have had two unique experiences interning at both a healthcare consulting firm (Nihon Keiei) and a high acuity healthcare organization (Kameda). It has been an amazing summer learning, working, and traveling in the land of the rising sun.
During my time with Nihon Keiei I worked at their Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka offices as well as met with clients in other cities and prefectures. During one client visit I was able to engage and participate as a consultant, educating hospital staff on one of Japan’s new labor reforms to the healthcare sector. I also gave a short briefing on the status of the US healthcare system and healthcare in Iowa to the Tokyo office in Japanese. While my Japanese is far from fluent, I received wonderful translation assistance in preparation for these instances. Special thanks to Haruka Inoue, arigato goziamashita!
Japan’s investment in advanced technological care was on full display when I was able to tour one of their six heavy ion radiotherapy centers, guided by Dr. Akira Nakagawara. This was also a unique experience because the facility, Saga HIMAT in Kyushu, is Japan’s first private heavy ion treatment center. With the first papers on the effectiveness of carbon ion therapy published in recent years and interest in these facilities growing in the US, it was exciting to discover how such an expensive facility was built and now operational as a private organization. I also had the opportunity to develop and present an international expansion plan for Libra, Nihon Keiei Group’s big data analytics company, to both the North American and Thai healthcare markets.
I will finish my summer interning at Kameda Medical Center, a healthcare organization which has been owned and operated by the Kameda family for more than 350 years. Not only is Kameda a 900+ bed general hospital, but also a rehabilitation hospital and multispecialty outpatient clinic. All three located about 100 yards from the Pacific Ocean! While here I had an incredible clinical opportunity to scrub in on an open-heart surgery, two laparoscopic surgeries, and a c-section. In addition to attending operations, my time at Kameda consisted of rotations through almost every department in the organization. Some of these rotations were a home health visit, observing an upper endoscopy in their Ningen Doc Clinic, and a meeting with the mayor of Kamogawa discussing healthcare policy initiatives at the city level.
Sayonara!
Konnichiwa from Japan!
The past three months in Japan have flown by and I am nearing the end of my internship at Nihon Keiei Group and Kameda Medical Center. It has been a truly eye-opening experience for me in terms of both education within a healthcare system with national insurance and immersion in a new culture. I have been lucky to have had two unique experiences interning at both a healthcare consulting firm (Nihon Keiei) and a high acuity healthcare organization (Kameda). It has been an amazing summer learning, working, and traveling in the land of the rising sun.
During my time with Nihon Keiei I worked at their Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka offices as well as met with clients in other cities and prefectures. During one client visit I was able to engage and participate as a consultant, educating hospital staff on one of Japan’s new labor reforms to the healthcare sector. I also gave a short briefing on the status of the US healthcare system and healthcare in Iowa to the Tokyo office in Japanese. While my Japanese is far from fluent, I received wonderful translation assistance in preparation for these instances. Special thanks to Haruka Inoue, arigato goziamashita!
Japan’s investment in advanced technological care was on full display when I was able to tour one of their six heavy ion radiotherapy centers, guided by Dr. Akira Nakagawara. This was also a unique experience because the facility, Saga HIMAT in Kyushu, is Japan’s first private heavy ion treatment center. With the first papers on the effectiveness of carbon ion therapy published in recent years and interest in these facilities growing in the US, it was exciting to discover how such an expensive facility was built and now operational as a private organization. I also had the opportunity to develop and present an international expansion plan for Libra, Nihon Keiei Group’s big data analytics company, to both the North American and Thai healthcare markets.
Japan is an extremely fascinating country to travel. Both companies, and Japan as a whole, take the meaning of hospitality beyond my American expectations. On weekends there were always people willing to take me to popular destinations, and within these past ten weeks I have traveled to twelve different major cities, numerous castles and temples, and eaten more sushi than I have in the last 20 years living in the US. Speaking of raw seafood, I was treated to a local specialty in Fukuoka: live squid. After a few minutes of mental preparation, I dug in and it was an experience I will never forget! In Kamogawa I spend almost every evening at the beach, and my favorite thing I have done in Japan was learning how to surf. Kamogawa is famous for their waves and will definitely be returning to ride them again!
While I will miss Japan greatly and saddened to be leaving soon, I am also looking forward to returning to the MHA program, sharing my experiences with friends and family, and bringing the what I’ve learned about Japanese healthcare back to the United States!
Sayonara!
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