I was awarded the JPOA travelling fellowship for 2007. The fellowship extended from 28th October till 4th November 2007. This fellowship program is intended for education for both the candidate and the host institutions, to promote interchange of ideas in paediatric orthopaedics and to have communications between the Asian countries.

Chiba 28th October 2007 – 31 October 2007
I arrived on a bright Sunday morning at Narita International Airport and was greeted at the airport by Dr Takashi Saisu and his wife, Yoko. The weather was so perfect that I was told Mt Fuji could be viewed from Chiba. We had breakfast before proceeding to the National History Museum. It was a good place to learn Japanese history. I spent the remaining part of Sunday resting in the hotel.

Chiba Prefecture is surrounded on all sides by rivers and sea and blessed with a rich natural setting of water and greenery. It has a land area of 5,156 square kilometers and a population of 5.9 million. The Children’s hospital was opened in 1988 as a comprehensive medical facility for children, offering diagnosis, treatment, counseling, and guidance on infant diseases when they require advanced or specialist care that is difficult to provide in general medical institutions. The hospital has about 200 beds. The Chief of Orthopedic Department in Chiba Children’s Hospital is Dr Makoto Kamegaya. Dr Saisu is the other staff orthopaedic surgeon. Dr Kawamura is a surgeon undergoing further training in Children’s orthopaedics under Dr Kamegaya. The orthopaedic resident on rotation to this hospital is Dr Takazawa.

On Monday morning, I went to the hospital with Dr Kamegaya. We started with the ward round. There were about 8 orthopaedic patients in the ward. The limb lengthening patients usually stay for a few months. They are able to attend school in the hospital. 10 teachers conducted classes in this hospital just like a normal school.  This is a unique feature of children’s hospital in Japan.  

The new case clinic started right after lunch at 1pm. Most were referrals from nearby hospitals. We saw children with trigger thumb, Perthes, CTEV, Spina Bifida, PFFD, pseudoarthrosis and fractures. The clinic ended at 5 pm. I was treated to a sumptuous welcome dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant.

Tuesday, 30th October was a very busy clinic day. Clinic started at 9 am for the morning session and 1 pm for the afternoon session. There were patients with spina bifida, sports or overuse injuries, Perthes disease, DDH and fractures. There were many patients with deformities and limb length discrepancy for correction or lengthening. After the clinic, Dr Takazawa presented his research on Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

On Wednesday, the clinic again started at 9 am and ended by noon. There were many cases seen during this morning session. In the afternoon, while some of the doctors were finalizing their presentations for the upcoming JPOA meeting in Kobe, Dr Kawamura and his wife, Chieko offered to bring me to Tokyo Disney Sea. The weather was very pleasant. And best of all, we did not have to queue for any of the rides and therefore managed to cover quite a number of attractions. The night ended with a spectacular firework show. We returned to Chiba by 10 pm. It was a wonderful fun filled day!

Kobe 1st November- 4th November 2007
I checked out of the Port Chiba Plaza Hotel on Thursday morning and left for Kobe where the 18th Annual Meeting of the JPOA was held. We traveled on the Shinkansen to Kobe. The train is efficient, fast, with speed of up to 285 km/h and has a tilting ability to maintain the speed on curves. We reached Kobe in just under 3 hours, checked into our respective hotels and then attended a dinner cruise aboard the Luminous Kobe-2. I was introduced to Dr Hamanishi from Kinki University School of Medicine. He is the President of the JPOA, 2007. After a speech by Dr Hamanishi, Dr Herring and a few other prominent surgeons like Dr Kokubun, we started our dinner. It was a glittering affair. Kobe was absolutely breathtaking at night.

The 18th annual meeting officially started on 2nd November 2007. The topics covered during the meeting were very interesting although mostly in Japanese. Dr Saisu was kind enough help translate some of the presentations for me. I managed to meet up with 3 other traveling fellows – Dr Panya from Thailand, Dr Anil and Dr Pandey from India. We all traveled to Japan to present our papers under different fellowships.

Dr Herring, from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas was one of the 3 invited speakers to give special lectures. Dr Gang Li and Dr Song from Korea also delivered their special lectures.

The first day of the meeting ended with a lavish banquet at Kobe Kacho-en. It was a very beautiful place, with great ambience. Dinner was very good. All the foreign fellows were presented with their certificate of attendance during the dinner.

3rd November was the second day of the meeting. My poster presentation was in the evening, together with the other posters in English. It was chaired by Dr Kamegaya and the session ended at 5 pm. We caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and the subway back to Chiba. It was about 10 pm when we reached the hospital. I spent the last night in the hospital quarters and the following morning, I was sent to the airport to catch the plane home, marking the end of this fruitful fellowship.

Conclusion
I was very fortunate to be given this opportunity to travel to Japan as a  fellow. I was informed by previous fellows that it would be a great experience and I strongly agree. I was able to see many cases and learn from my hosts even though the visit was short. I was touched by the warm and generous hospitality. Many thanks to Dr Kamegaya, Dr Saisu, Dr Kawamura and Dr Takazawa from the Orthopedics Department at Chiba Children’s Hospital for their warm hospitality (and for teaching me some Japanese words!) despite their busy schedule.

I would like to thank MOA for giving me this opportunity to represent the country and the JPOA for being a great host. Domo arigato-gozaimas!

Morning ward round at the Chiba Children’s Hospital From left to right: Dr Takazawa, Dr Kamegaya, the author, Dr Saisu, Dr Kawamura

Playroom and pantry for the children in the ward

Welcome dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant

With Dr Kawamura at Tokyo DisneySea

Group photo of foreign fellows taken with Dr Kamegaya who chaired the English poster session

Presented with certificate of attendance by Dr Kokubun

Photo taken aboard the Luminous Kobe from left to right: Dr Saisu, Dr Kawamura, Dr JA Herring and the author