Hi! Nice to meet you.

Hello everyone,

My name is Sarah and I discovered this place by accident while searching for language resources for Japanese, and I think this has been a great accident, haha. A little about myself, I'm a first year medical student studying in Ireland (19 years old). I'm however from Chicago (US) and ethnically Arab. I've always been interested in Japanese culture ever since I stumbled upon Osamu Tezuka's work, which is very inspirational for me. Also, I found the Japanese medical system itself and how different it is than the western system to be interesting to learn more about. I wish one day to learn the Japanese language and apply it Although my studies are intensive, I still try to make time for this beautiful language and culture.

Thank you for taking time to read this

Hi Sarah ! Glad you found us. You have chosen a great field to work. I spent almost 20 years working as a CNA/HHA here in the US. I worked in my patient's home and often became part of their family , really enjoyed it and hated to retire. Hope you find things here to enjoy on JREF and maybe even make a few friends.

Wow, that sounds amazing! I am so happy you enjoyed it. True, you retired, but I am sure you have many experiences and stories to share in the future that I am sure anyone will appreciate. Yes, haha, it is a great field of work, but very tiring and a long journey but nonetheless worth it. Thank you for the warm welcome, and I'm looking forward to meeting more people and making friends

I only had to endure 3 months of school , I can't imagine how hard you must work and the long hours involved. Best of luck to you and hang in there.

Thank you, yes it is a long process. It will be 6 years of school for me. The medical system in Europe is similar to that of Japan. The Japanese medical school system is also 6 years, haha. I do get generous long breaks (holidays), though, and I mostly use them to travel, so overall it isn't that bad, but definitely a lot of work. Thank you for the encouragement. It is nice you got to experience what you wanted in a short amount of school! I am sure even in that small period, a lot of information was thrown at you.

When my class started , there were 25 of us. 20 made it through to the end of class and then we had 4 weeks of clinical at a local nursing home. The very first week was easy , but 5 students quit because the smells were bad , LOL. By the end of the last week only 12 of us made it. We worked in pairs and the girl I worked with was pregnant with morning sickness everyday which made it interesting. After graduation , I worked in the advanced care ward of a nursing home just down the street from me which was handy. After 3 months there , I felt I was ready to go into home care and found that was super nice. I did a 3 year stretch in hospice care which was the hardest. You would get to know the patient and family real well until the patient died and then on to the next case. I only needed 12 more college credits to become an RN nurse , but in home care they spent 80% of their time doing paper work and I liked hands on better. Something I often ran into , was if your were a "male" nurse , everyone thought you were gay. Many were surprised me "wife" was a female , LOL. When times are difficult for you in the future , just keep thinking how it will feel when people call you DOCTOR.

Thank you for sharing, haha! I am glad you kept through and didn't quit, and oh wow, someone pregnant! She has my respect. That must've been so hard. It sounds to me that you did more experience than "preclinical" years, which is way better in my opinion when it comes to learning. I agree that hands on is better. As for the "male," nurse, haha, yes that is common, even here. I have a really good friend of mine who is from Norway who came to do medical school here at 30+ He was a nurse too and really enjoyed his job actually but just wanted to take it further. He is one of the "manliest" I know, looool. I am glad you found a super cool wife too And, you are right when times are difficult, I will remember that I will be out there helping someone, which is really worth it to me. The reason I chose medicine is because it is universal. It has its own language. It doesn't matter if you're from China or the US; both individuals will be speaking the same language in terms of speciality and their one goal will be to take care of that patient to the best of their abilities.

As for me, I graduated high school and decided I wanted dive straight into medicine instead of doing undergraduate in the US, and then 4 years of medicine (which would be a total of 8 years + residency). I looked into options in Europe and found really nice programs that accepted students early with the right qualifications. I am actually here sponsored by the US government (even though it is loans and I will be in a hell lot of it lol). So, I would have to go back or "match," back to the US when I am finished. It is a nice system really, though. Although we are in debt, the US does its best to help us out. They even have a program where if anyone were to work in the public sector (like for example a state-funded hospital), they will wave the loans. So, I am really grateful I got this opportunity.

Wait, are you serious!?

Sorry about all that Sarah. Everything went kind of off topic for a while , so the thread got cleaned up. Sometimes members here can be a bit aggressive. I apologize for the off topic junk and hope it didn't upset you.

No, it is more than fine! I totally understand. Thank you for sharing. It didn't bother me at all, haha