B E Y O N D | J A N . T O M A R . 2 0 2 0 | I S S U E 2 0 10 medical students from IHS participated in the International Winter Medical School (IWMS), an annualexchange programme with Kagawa University, Japan from the 1-22 December 2019. Alex Brandon Wong, a medical student representative of the group shares his experience at IWMS 2019: "Our trip to Japan was an opportunity to culturally indulge and experience the life of a medical studentabroad. Initially, I had my regrets on assuming the role of “trip leader” and handling most of theadministrative responsibilities before the trip. However, with support from Dr. Amalina and Dr. Nadhirah aswell as the organizers at the Faculty of Medicine of Kagawa University, the IWMS had become anexperience that I was extremely grateful for and was worth all the effort. Upon arriving, our preconceived notions on what a “normal day” meant were challenged immediately. Notonly were we (eight year 2 and two year 3 medical students from UBD) in a different country, with adifferent mother tongue and cultures, we also had to adapt to the cold weather and most importantly,adapt to each other as it was the first time traveling without family for most, if not all of us. However,these challenges benefitted us all in the end as we were able to learn from these experiences. Through a tour around Kagawa University Hospital, we witnessed robotic surgeries and learned about thefacilities available for patients in Japan. The academic highlight of this program was the anatomy class,where we were provided the opportunity to interact with human cadavers collaboratively with otherKagawa medical students. Over the weekends, we were taken to historical and cultural sites and had sometime to relax and interact with the Kagawa university students.  All in all, in many ways, I was able to grow both as a person and a medical student through this program. Itwas a wonderful experience that enabled me to experience a beautiful country and culture, which willremain memorable for the times to come."M E D I C A L S T U D E N T S H E A D T O K A G A W AU N I V E R S I T Y F O R A N E X C H A N G EP R O G R A M M E 8Clockwise from top left: Students at the International Welcome Party, Ritsurin Garden; one of the most historicalgarden in Japan, students with some of the professors at Kagawa University during IWMS 2019 (1 -22 December)
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