To the medical students and residents reading this now,

Some of you may already know what you want to do in the future. Some of you may still be struggling to decide. Others may not have thought about it yet.

As someone who is a little further along the path than you, I would like to share a few thoughts.

During the six years of medical school, most of your lectures come from university professors. You probably have very few opportunities to hear from community physicians or clinic owners.

I do not know whether my experience will be useful to you, but I would like to speak from the perspective of a practicing primary care physician.

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I graduated from Fukushima Medical University in 2004.

This is my 22nd year as a physician.

Time has passed incredibly quickly.

When I was a medical student, physicians with 20 years of experience seemed like true masters. Yet today, I still feel that there is so much I do not know.

The reason is simple: I have learned that medicine cannot be mastered through textbooks alone.

To treat patients, you must understand not only their diseases but also the people themselves.

You must consider their minds and bodies, their past, present, and future.

Only then can you truly care for them.

That is why medicine remains challenging every day.

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I have been running a clinic that treats all kinds of conditions for the past ten years.

In other words, I am one of the physicians closest to patients.

About 6,000 patients visit my clinic every month.

If one hundred patients come to see me, there are one hundred different stories and one hundred different concerns.

Not a single patient follows the textbook exactly.

That is why I find this work so rewarding.

Whenever my diagnosis is imperfect, or a patient seeks care elsewhere, I reflect on what I could have done better.

Those experiences become valuable lessons that help me care for the next patient.

And when a patient recovers and leaves feeling reassured, I often think there can be few professions more rewarding than this one.

Many physicians who have practiced for twenty years may feel they have learned everything they need and continue their work without much change.

But I still feel that I am learning every day.

I still aspire to become a truly great family physician.

And even now, I continue to find deep meaning and excitement in this work.

Opening my clinic was one of the best decisions of my life.

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Every physician’s path is different.

I trained in surgery and emergency medicine before opening my clinic in my twelfth year as a physician.

Some people love clinical practice.

Others love research.

There are many specialties—internal medicine, surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, psychiatry, and many more.

Every field has its own rewards.

However, there is one thing I hope you will keep in mind.

As medical facilities become fewer and the population ages, the quality of community physicians will become increasingly important.

I have written more about this in other articles, but I firmly believe that the role of comprehensive primary care physicians will continue to grow.

When a patient walks through your door with any symptom, if you can face them without turning away and evaluate them carefully, you can save lives, protect your community, and ultimately help protect your country.

That is why I strongly encourage you to study emergency medicine.

Not only tertiary emergency care, but especially primary and secondary emergency care.

Many of my physician friends are highly specialized experts.

Yet some cannot comfortably manage a common cold, and some are not confident in basic life-saving procedures.

I believe emergency and general medical skills have become weaker in many areas of Japanese medicine.

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Why did you choose to become a physician?

Most likely, because you wanted to help people.

In the years ahead, Japan will have more elderly people, more chronic illnesses, and more medical emergencies.

In cities, more clinics will focus on increasingly narrow specialties.

In rural areas, medical facilities may continue to disappear.

If you become a comprehensive primary care physician who is willing to see any patient, you will have the opportunity to help countless people.

That is what I do every day.

People come to me when they are suffering, worried, frightened, or unsure where to go.

And I can help them.

Internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, psychiatry—it does not matter.

What matters is helping the person who comes to you.

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Most of you will begin your careers as hospital physicians.

Many of you will pursue specialty training.

That is natural and important.

But while developing expertise, I hope you will maintain a broad perspective and continue learning how to care for the whole person.

This is extremely important.

Human beings are not simply collections of organs.

Everything is connected.

Even if you successfully treat one problem, another imbalance may appear elsewhere.

Please do not become so focused on a single specialty that you stop learning about the rest of medicine.

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After about ten years of practice, I encourage you to consider opening a clinic.

You may return to your hometown, or you may choose a new community.

Wherever you go, consider becoming a physician who listens to every concern a patient brings.

A physician who evaluates the entire person—from head to toe, mind and body, acute illness and chronic disease.

A physician who sees the patient first.

A comprehensive primary care physician.

Medicine is different from most professions.

We do not sell products.

We help save lives.

Physicians are not gods.

But when patients come to you, they are asking for help.

Please meet them with sincerity and compassion.

Do everything you can for them.

Never say:

“This is not my specialty.”

“Please go somewhere else.”

Instead, face the patient honestly and help guide them toward the care they need.

When you do that, patients begin to see you as their physician.

Their trusted physician.

The person they turn to when something is wrong.

And that trust becomes one of the greatest sources of fulfillment in your career.

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Japan today is very different from the Japan of thirty years ago.

The role of community physicians has changed dramatically.

A patient being treated for hypertension may later suffer an injury or develop depression.

A one-year-old child may fall and hit their head.

A ninety-year-old patient may come with many concerns at once.

When they come to you, it is because they trust you.

As comprehensive primary care physicians, we help patients, support families, protect communities, and ultimately contribute to the future of our nation.

I truly believe that the physician Japan needs most in the years ahead is the comprehensive primary care physician.

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For me, the greatest fulfillment in medicine is found in being closest to patients.

When a patient sincerely says,

“Thank you.”

Those two words remind me why I chose this path.

They bring me back to my original purpose.

They give me the strength to keep going.

That is why I continue.

To all medical students and residents:

If you have even a small interest in comprehensive primary care, please feel free to contact me.

You are welcome to visit my clinic, observe our work, or simply have a meal and a conversation.

Your future is bright.

You have worked hard to become physicians.

Please continue learning, continue growing, and continue helping as many patients as possible.

Thank you for reading this message.

I hope these thoughts will provide some guidance as you begin your own journey in medicine.

I wish you a rewarding and meaningful career ahead.