Hello,
I am Bui Nam, an information technology engineer at Ninhbinh General Hospital, Ninhbinh city, Vietnam. I regularly support telemedicine activities at the hospital and support humane cleft palate surgery cooperation activities between Ninhbinh General Hospital and the Japanese Cleft Palate Foundation (JCPF)
In February 2023, I got the opportunity to participate in the Sakura Science Program (SSP). It was the first time I came to Japan and it was a great opportunity to experience Japanese life, working environment and culture. My trip to Japan took place for 9 days (including arrival and departure dates). There were 9 members from many different countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Bhutan and Vietnam. We had 5 days of study and practice at Telemedicine Development Center of Asia (TEMDEC), Kyushu University and 2 days to visit and to experience Hiroshima. Although the time in Japan was not long (about 1 week), the program brought a lot of experience and made a great impact on me and I can summarize some of the main points below:

Language (English): We all know about the role and effects of English but I still want to repeat the impact on me. I live and work in Ninhbinh city, it’s not big city and I don't have much experience, skills and opportunities to use English at work, when I joined SSP, I can improve my English skills. It's really good for me to learn and update my knowledge and skills in the field of IT and telemedicine. It also helps me better in supporting international cooperation at my hospital with JCPF and other international organizations, and international visitors.

Japanese lifestyles and work style: Our colleagues in Kyushu university are friendly, kind and ready to assist us when there is a problem or request. Our group comes from different countries, has different cultures, religions, activities, sometimes we have some small problems (such as prayer, fasting, food ... ) and they always get help and guidance from Japanese friends. On the weekend, during a visit to Hiroshima and the peace museum. In addition to the unforgettable feelings about the aftermath of the atomic bomb, I am really impressed by the strong recovery of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb disaster. It certainly requires solidarity and mutual support, as well as the spirit of the Japanese people's will to work and create. Our team all realized when working with Japanese engineers that they are very hardworking, serious and on time. I saw some staff work through 6PM, doctors work 10-12 hours per day. Even in the evening, engineer from TEMDEC still contacted us to solve some computer network related problems.

Preserve nature and protect the environment: We can see that the natural and cultural heritages in Japan are very well preserved. Wildlife is also particularly focused on conservation. I have very special, interesting photos and videos of deer on Miyajima island. The surroundings are very clean, tidy and dust-free. All products are environmentally friendly.

Professional ethics: When I meet and work with Japanese engineers and doctors, issues related to professional ethics the Japanese are highly concerned. This is very necessary in any field, especially in my field (medical). Because there is a lot of personal information, the patient's sensitive information needs to be kept confidential. In the process of working, if you do not pay attention, one may violate such confidentiality.

Strengthen the friendship, relationship, link between participants and our institution: As you know, our trip to Kyushu University Hospital includes members from many different countries. After the trip, we still keep in touch and update activities related to IT field, telemedicine, ... and of course the activities of SSP. Some friends from other countries also watched when we introduced “The 3rd Alumni Meeting Sakura Science Club in Vietnam” which took place in May 2023, and they also introduced an alumni event that will take place in Malaysia during July 2023.

Learn and share experiences in the field of IT and telemedicine: Although the study and practice time was only 5 days, we were introduced to and learned a lot of things, familiarized ourselves with new technologies in the field of telemedicine such as Joinview software, virtual reality technology in endoscopy and so on.

Enhance skills, confidence in installation, configuration, and control of telemedicine system: The telemedicine equipment at my hospital is mostly supported by projects, installed and pre-connected, so we have little chance of installing and setting up from the beginning . At the training program at TEMDEC , we have learned how to set up telemedicine system from diagrams to different types of actual devices. This is very helpful for engineers in the field of telemedicine.