Japan Internship: From Culture to Change
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What can a two-month surgical internship change beyond your technical skills? This presentation looks at the Japanese operating room not only through procedures and training, but through the culture that shapes how teams work together.
The speaker shares observations from training in a high-volume reconstructive unit, where DIEP flaps, sarcoma reconstruction, LD flaps and PAP flaps were part of everyday practice. But the most interesting lessons are found between the operations: a quiet and highly structured operating room, universal hand hygiene, carefully performed time-outs, respect between team members, and a striking absence of verbal aggression.
Concepts such as Wa, Omotenashi, Kodawari, Ganbaru and Kansha are explored as possible explanations for what was observed. At the same time, the discussion asks where Japanese culture may actually have disadvantages—particularly when excessive respect for hierarchy or avoidance of confrontation can make open disagreement harder. The result is less a travel report than a reflection on how professional culture influences patient safety, learning and change.
The speaker shares observations from training in a high-volume reconstructive unit, where DIEP flaps, sarcoma reconstruction, LD flaps and PAP flaps were part of everyday practice. But the most interesting lessons are found between the operations: a quiet and highly structured operating room, universal hand hygiene, carefully performed time-outs, respect between team members, and a striking absence of verbal aggression.
Concepts such as Wa, Omotenashi, Kodawari, Ganbaru and Kansha are explored as possible explanations for what was observed. At the same time, the discussion asks where Japanese culture may actually have disadvantages—particularly when excessive respect for hierarchy or avoidance of confrontation can make open disagreement harder. The result is less a travel report than a reflection on how professional culture influences patient safety, learning and change.
PRAS-12
Course
Professional Development for Plastic Surgeons and Microsurgical Education
01
1:12:23
Reflections on Microsurgery Training and Scientific Publishing as a ResidentA resident’s practical perspective on building microsurgical skills, finding mentors, gaining international exposure, and turning research ideas into publishable work.
02
1:18:17
From neurosurgery to plastic surgery: EBOPRAS and beyondMartin Ouzký shares how cross-specialty training, international experience, and complex reconstructive cases shaped his approach to plastic surgery — from career decisions and board certification to microsurgery, limb salvage, and rehabilitation.
03
44:16
Implementing Taiwanese Surgical Experience in Ukraine: The Story of Taiwanese Fishing HooksWhat happens when advanced reconstructive techniques meet Ukrainian clinical reality? A practical account of translating Taiwanese surgical experience into facial nerve reconstruction, eyelid surgery, scar revision, microsurgical techniques—and even improvised surgical hooks.
04
49:27
Microsurgical Simulation at HomeA practical guide to building microsurgical skills outside the operating room. Anatolii Vatulia shares his own progression from improvised tools and low-cost optics to more advanced home simulation setups.
05
1:10:23
How to Gain Experience and Build Your Own Plastic Surgery ClinicA practical career roadmap for young plastic surgeons: from choosing mentors and gaining operative experience to building a professional reputation and developing a successful private practice.
06
56:50 Now playing
Japan Internship: From Culture to ChangeA reflective look at surgical training in Japan and what its culture of harmony, discipline and patient safety can teach Ukrainian medicine.
07
1:35:58
Inside Taiwan’s Microsurgery School: Systems, Training, and ReconstructionA practical look inside a nearly three-month surgical fellowship in Taiwan: how a high-volume microsurgery center trains residents, organizes operating rooms, builds multidisciplinary teams, and turns complex reconstruction into a reproducible system.
Japan Internship: From Culture to Change