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Naomi Jepchirchir Bisem
here. Second, something changed in me; at first I was becom-
ing more and more aware that there is a history issue between
China and Japan, especially of during World War II; I have to
mention that, because from the media you only get a distort-
ed image of Japan or China. After coming to Japan, my view
changed.
AIURA:
It works both ways: our students go to Harbin and are
well looked after.
YANG:
I hope the relationship between SUMS and other univer-
sities will last by exchanging students. I’m more open-minded
now when I talk with Japanese or other international students.
Those people’s thoughts have changed me completely and it
helps me to accept different ideas.
AIURA:
Apart from being here in Japan, are you saying that it
helps you become open-minded by being with other foreign
students?
YANG:
Yes, everybody changed me little by little. I learn I can
accept this change in me. Lastly, but not least, Japanese medi-
cal education is highly advanced. We have a lot to learn.
AIURA:
I’ve been to Harbin Medical University and I was really
impressed by the huge and beautiful campus.
YANG:
This is kind of my new role, to be an ambassador.
MITSUNAMI:
Why you have chosen SUMS?
YANG:
That’s the question I asked myself! I was thinking about
the US because everybody seemed to want to go, to be honest.
My seniors highly recommended the SUMS Molecular Neuro-
science Research Center.
AIURA:
Is the selection to get a scholarship to go abroad very
severe? Because I notice really good students come.
YANG:
Yeah, still very competitive.
MITSUNAMI:
Lastly, Vinh please.
VINH:
To be honest I am very happy, because my country is still
very poor and my university is in the process of developing
basic science. My university is the biggest for medical train-
ing in the south of Vietnam, so it is very important for me to
improve my basic science knowledge. Here I have a chance to
approach many advanced technologies and to be well trained
in basic science. It is very helpful for my future career. At first
I had many difficulties, but my supervisor and staff were very
kind. About life here, I feel very comfortable.
MITSUNAMI:
Do you hope to study in other countries later?
VINH:
Yes, if I have a chance to go to another country. I would
go to America, Korea or any other country.
MITSUNAMI:
Thank you. Now let’s move on to bad or weak
points, or troubles while studying at SUMS, again including
issues related to living. We’d like your honest opinions, please.
Maryam, please.
MARYAM:
I have just 4 points. The 1
st
is the language barrier.
Within SUMS, documents are mostly provided in Japanese,
which makes me very dependent on others. Important e-mails
regarding graduate courses, a lot of times we don’t know
what’s going on.
MITSUNAMI:
I see. Sorry to hear that.
MARYAM:
The second thing was the SUMS project. Although
I’m very grateful for that, it could have been better organized.
I had already started accepting other universities. I even had
other scholarships out there.
AIURA:
Could you specify the months?
MARYAM:
In Canada school starts in September but informa-
tion regarding graduate studies is given in April or May. I got
my results from another university in May, but with the SUMS
project the result came in the beginning of September. The
application deadline then was July 17
th
. That was a very close
call; I was going to cancel and not come.
MITSUNAMI:
Not well organized.
AIURA:
Partly because we just started the program then, and
we still have many things that we should solve and improve.
MITSUNAMI:
Next?
MARYAM:
The PhD program: only a little information is avail-
able on the website. Also, within the PhD program, perhaps
there could be more lectures in English.
AIURA:
Our staff have been encouraged to give lectures in Eng-
lish, but still not enough, I guess.
MITSUNAMI:
And lastly?
MARYAM:
Difficulties with important documents for living: we
are not used to the Japanese social system, like national health
insurance, pension, etc. We don’t know how to deal with them
at first.
AIURA:
I guess a kind of manual would be helpful, putting bits
and pieces together.
MITSUNAMI:
Yes, thank you very much. Naomi, please.
NAOMI:
The first would be access to information in English.
If lectures can’t be done in English, information should be
available in handouts in
English, because some of
the most interesting-look-
ing presentations were in
Japanese! Secondly, about
the first year teaching pro-
gram: there are certain
subjects such as statistics,
research design, lab tech-
niques, which were very
new to us. It would be nice
for certain core programs
to be longer.
AIURA:
Would it be feasible
?Special Talk?
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