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Prof. Reiko Aiura
Maryam Zaid
about carrying on to a PhD?
YANG:
To be honest, I did not, because at that time I had no idea
what research would be like.
MITSUNAMI:
OK, thank you. Lastly, Vinh please.
VINH:
Good afternoon sensei. My name’s Nguyen Quoc Vinh,
doing research under Prof. Tohru Tani. I come from Vietnam.
Vinh is my given name.
In Vietnam, after 6 years as a general doctor, I studied for 3
years as a resident physician. My specialty is general surgery. I
became a surgeon at Cho Ray Hospital, and I am also a lecturer
at the university.
My Vietnamese department has a very close relationship
with the Department of Surgery in SUMS. Many seniors have
come here to do research, and some SUMS surgeons go to my
hospital and university every year. My seniors recommended
me to study here and I wanted to do a long-term study, so I
chose SUMS. It’s 1 year and a half since I came here. I became
a PhD student last October to work on cancer treatment.
MITSUNAMI:
So you belong to Cho Ray Hospital and to the Uni-
versity of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City.
VINH:
Yes . . . .
MITSUNAMI:
Now I would like to ask each of you about good
points of studying and researching at SUMS, including issues
related to daily life. First, Maryam please.
MARYAM:
I’ll just highlight a few. Most importantly, SUMS re-
ally takes care of their international students —much more so
than do other universities. I have a lot of international friends
in Kyoto and they do not get the same treatment, so we feel
very grateful. For example, accommodation in International
House: that’s less stress for us, living in a foreign country. An-
other good point of SUMS is my department.
AIURA:
But you changed your study subjects?
MARYAM:
I learned biochemistry in my Master’s, but I wasn’t
a fan of lab-work. No matter how hard you try, sometimes ex-
periments don’t work, and
I preferred data analysis,
which I really enjoy.
AIURA:
Was it not quite a
big change?
MARYAM:
A big change,
yes, but my current re-
search project is related
to my previous one, so it’s
still within cardio-vascular
research.
MITSUNAMI:
I think you
could have found many
other research centers eas-
ily, closer to home. Why did
you choose us?
MARYAM:
I got accepted in
Canada as well, but in bio-
chemistry. No PhD program
in epidemiology was avail-
able. I came here just to see
what it was like, but I had the
intention to do a PhD.
AIURA:
Did you know much
about Japan or Japanese life
or culture before you came?
MARYAM:
A bit about Japanese culture, like anime, sushi.
AIURA:
Was it a surprise when you came here, to find this kind
of life?
MARYAM:
Yes, it was very clean, and everyone is polite.
AIURA:
Clean? but Ottawa is clean too!
MARYAM:
No, Japan is much, much cleaner.
MITSUNAMI:
I think Japanese may be a bit reserved, per-
haps? We don’t know much about . . . Islam. Do you have any
trouble?
MARYAM:
No big problem, just diet. I have to eat special foods;
mainly no meat, unless it’s halal.
MITSUNAMI:
I see. OK, then next Naomi, please.
NAOMI:
Thank you. There’re quite a few good points. One is
the program itself. It’s a 4 year program, and it’s good because
it allows the international students first to experience the re-
search and environment here. Secondly it’s a research PhD, so
even from the 1
st
year you can start research. If one project
doesn’t work out, I had enough time to change and do another
project. I think that is a really good. Thirdly, we are allowed to
live in the International House for the entire time. It makes it
very affordable and takes away that stress of finding accom-
modation. SUMS has a good access to the city, away from all
the hustle and bustle. Life is cheaper here, and it’s more of a
community, but close to Kyoto and Osaka so you don’t really
miss out much. Also SUMS is very supportive.
AIURA:
Did you want more help though?
NAOMI:
I think the only big problem is a language barrier.
AIURA:
It would be really helpful for you to have more docu-
ments and papers in English, I guess.
NAOMI:
Any way, I have discovered many good points I didn’t
know before, while being here.
MITSUNAMI:
OK. Thank you. How about Yang?
YANG:
I think the good points of SUMS are the good qualities
of Japan. As Maryam said, this university makes our life very
easy. We are well taken care of. I’ve been in Japan for 2 years
and a half, and I’ve learned that I can trust the country and I
recommended my wife to join me, so now we really enjoy life
Ⅱ
Table Talk: Studying in SUMS
－What SUMS Can Offer for Overseas Researchers －
SH I GA I DA I NEWS v o l . 2 2
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