If you aim to be a doctor or nurse, "studying abroad in high school" might be a shortcut, not a detour [3-part series ①]
"I want to work as a doctor or nurse abroad in the future."
"I want to become a medical professional who can use English while staying in Japan."
Recently, I have been receiving more consultations like that.
For middle and high school students aiming to be doctors or nurses and their parents, I would like to talk about the true value of"studying abroad in high school"in a 3-part series.
This is the first installment.
To conclude,the path to becoming a doctor or nurse is not just about winning the Japanese entrance exam competition.
And I believe that what makes this path a realistic option is not after becoming a university student, but"studying abroad during high school."
Is it true that "you have to be good at exams to become a doctor or nurse"?
When aiming to become a doctor or nurse in Japan, I think many families first think of studying for entrance exams to get into a medical or nursing school with a high deviation score.
Medical school entrance exams, in particular, have an extremely academic-biased structure where high processing ability in mathematics and science determines success or failure.
Even if they have a strong will, it is not uncommon for students to spend years as ronin or change their career paths entirely just because their scores in certain subjects were slightly insufficient.
In addition, private medical schools in Japan often cost between 20 million and over 40 million yen in tuition alone over six years, creating high hurdles not only in terms of academics but also in terms of finances.
"My child is bad at math, so becoming a doctor might be difficult."
I have met many parents who give up on their child's potential early on in that way.
There are medical schools overseas that do not measure you only by "scores"
However, this isonly the case in Japan.
Overseas, especially in Eastern European countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic, which actively accept medical students from abroad, selection methods that comprehensively evaluate not only academic ability but also personality, motivation, and communication skills are adopted.
In most universities, mathematics is excluded from the required subjects, and it is not rare for success or failure to be determined by English proficiency, basic knowledge of science subjects (about two subjects from chemistry, biology, and physics), and aptitude evaluation in interviews.
The premise of evaluation is fundamentally different from the exam war in Japan, where people are lined up solely by deviation scores.
I want you to know first that it is not a structure where the path to becoming a doctor is closed by a single yardstick called "academic score."
That "personality" and "motivation" cannot be cultivated overnight
However, these selections are by no means easy.
Interview methods where you move between multiple small rooms and answer on the spot in situations without a correct answer are also widely used, and you may be asked ethical questions with no clear right answer, such as "A terminal cancer patient is refusing treatment. How would you respond?" or "A fellow doctor came to work smelling of alcohol. What would you do?"
What is being looked at here isnot medical knowledge, but empathy, ethics, and the ability to logically convey your own thoughts.
Honestly, I think the attitude of "listening quietly in class," which is common in Japanese education, is quite tough here.
Moreover, this ability is not something you can suddenly acquire by reading reference books or cramming for interview preparation at the last minute.
That is precisely why "studying abroad during high school" becomes the foundation itself.
This is the point I most want to convey today.
The experience of living in a different culture during your flexible teenage years, conveying your opinions in English, and facing people even while feeling frustrated when things didn't go well.
It goes beyond superficial English proficiency and leads to the ability to understand and adapt to culture at an unconscious level.
Unlike "translating" English on top of a mindset solidified in your native language after becoming a university student, studying abroad in high school is a process of incorporating the local sense itself into yourself.
Empathy that reaches out to a patient's pain and background is said to be the most sought-after quality in the medical field, regardless of which country you work in in the future.
Whether or not you have that foundation will directly manifest as a difference in interviews and selection processes.
The path to becoming a doctor or nurse is also prepared outside of entrance exams.
Winning the Japanese entrance exam is not the only path to becoming a doctor or nurse. And I would like you to know first that it is the high school study abroad experience that makes that path a reality.
Whether you work overseas or as a medical professional who can speak English in Japan, I feel that the ease of your subsequent journey changes significantly depending on whether or not you have this foundation.
If you would like to delve deeper into this theme, please pick up the book “A Book to Expand Yourself and Your Future: Studying Abroad for Junior and Senior High School Students” written by Study Abroad Papa. You can learn about the reality of studying abroad in detail in a Q&A format.
At FED Study Abroad, which I operate, we also accept individual free consultations and free counseling for high school study abroad for children aiming to be doctors or nurses. Study Abroad Papa, who has experience studying at a university in the US and has supported his daughter's high school study abroad, and Erin, who studied abroad at a Canadian high school from the age of 15 with zero English ability, will think about your anxieties and questions together. We will never "force" anything or talk as if "studying abroad is a given." Please feel free to send us a message.
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