Hello, my name is Kenji Okita. After dedicating ten years to honing my skills as a surgeon at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Kyoto University, I left the department following my experience during the Great East Japan Earthquake. Driven by a strong desire to learn more about “emergency” and “disaster” response, I moved to Saiseikai Senri Critical Care Medical Center, where I had the opportunity to study a wide range of topics, including emergency medicine, trauma care, and disaster response.
Subsequently, I served in international medical relief through the International Relief Division at Osaka Red Cross Hospital. This experience allowed me to gain skills in dealing with disasters, trauma, and emergencies both in Japan and abroad. The learning opportunities were boundless.
In addition, I challenged myself by working in “remote island medicine” for three years. This experience made me realize that, despite the highly specialized treatment and advanced techniques available in Japan, there is still significant potential for growth in the field of general practice (whether internal medicine or surgery), particularly in terms of being able to diagnose a wide range of conditions and appropriately connect patients with specialized care.
