For the 52nd Find-Your-Role-Model session, we invited Dr. Satta who is a clinical fellow in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University.

After graduating from TMDU in 2012, Dr. Satta completed his residency at Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital and did a brief transition period in the hematology department there. He then moved to the US for an Internal Medicine residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel through the N Program, which dispatches young Japanese physicians to the US for clinical training. Currently he is completing a clinical fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology concurrent with translational research in AML.

In this session, Dr. Satta shared with us the hardships he has faced while working as a clinician in the US, and how he has dealt with them. He talked about how lack of permanent residency in the US can limit the range of potential workplaces and how language barriers and cultural differences can make communication challenging. It was a fruitful time for those who are considering working abroad, to hear about actual experiences that are rarely shared elsewhere.

In the end, Dr. Satta told us that his attitude toward his own career has become more flexible. As he explained, career paths outside the clinical or research area, such as specializing in education or working for a pharmaceutical company, are also popular for doctors in the US. After being exposed to this environment, Dr. Satta began to see a broader range of possibilities for himself where he could utilize his experiences and skills in the future. After hearing how Dr. Satta grew as a doctor in such a challenging environment, the audience gained a deeper insight into their own future career possibilities.