Foreigner in Japanese medical university?

Ok I know that this question has already been asked many times but to be honest the dates are either too old or there are no right answers . .. I am currently a freshman in my high school and I decided what I want to do after it .( attending the international program ) About 5 months ago I started learning Japanese so that I can in 4 years become fluent in it .I also have the knowledge of 3 languages plus my high school is known to be one of the hardest in my country . My question is : Is it possible to get into Japanese medical university aka. pre graduate school ? I am well aware of a fact that your Japanese has to be as great as N1 to even be considered as a candidate but what worries me is the test called EJU and the various subject you have to be tested on in order to pass . Since my country isn't that advanced and doesn't have any kind of prep course for this test I am looking for any information regarding it . Also I was wondering if you become a licensed doctor in Japan would you still be able to work in other countries other than Japan ?

If you feel you have the ability to compete with the top 1% of Japanese high school graduates on exams exclusively in Japanese, and you have the ability to finance your studies, than have at it.

One of my friends, ranked in the top couple of percent in his country, came to Japan on the MEXT scholarship. He tells me he basically understood nothing for his whole first year - the Japanese was just too advanced. And he was studying sociology. Medicine is basically the hardest degree to enter in any country. Trying to do it in Japanese would be unbelievably difficult.

Finally, I think it would be difficult for you to get a job when you graduate. Very few Japanese would feel comfortable going to a foreign doctor. Even if you speak flawless Japanese, even if your medical degree is from a Japanese university, the first thing they will do is look at your face and make a judgement. If I were a clinic owner, I think I wouldn't be willing to take a risk on employing a foreigner and potentially lose clients.

Your medical degree would in principle be transferable - once you pass the certification exams for the new country (which will undoubtedly require more study).

Hello, Hanna! I am also a high school student and will be going to Japan for my (hopefully medical) studies.

I think you might be interested in my thread: http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+134153

You see, people will generally tell you getting enrolled into a Japanese medical uni is impossible for a foreigner. Aside from language barrier, not only do they say you won't have enough knowledge/skills to do so (why they say this I really don't know), but also a lot of them, especially foreigners, claim that once you become a doctor, nobody would want to hire you (which is funny because usually they do not even know any foreign doctor here in Japan). That's why I think you won't find any real help here on japan-guide.

As your fellow, I would recommend you to strictly focus on learning biology, chemistry and maths on advanced level. You will need the knowledge from these subjects in order to pass university exams. When you graduate from your high school, you should firstly come to Japan for a full-time language course lasting for ~2 years. They will teach you over two thousand kanji and required academic language, which you need if you want to pass the exams as they are offered only in Japanese.

Don't worry, foreigners are asked to take exams different than those prepared for Japanese students. If you work hard, you can make it.

Hi Hanna & Hanadai,

Firstly - apologies for the long reply along with what looks like my CV at the start of the post. By explaining my background - I hope people will understand my point of view a bit better.

At present I work as a Science/Math teacher at an international school in China but have worked in Japan for 3 years. This means I have taught students who will attend Japanese and Western universities. I'm also a qualified scientist in another field which I'll come back later too.

In my home country of Australia, medicine is the most difficult course for any student wishing to attend university to get into. Some international students do attend these courses, but the vast majority come from english rich speaking nations (Singapore, Malaysia, India) or have attended international english speaking high schools in their home country since middle school.

The reason I say this is because there is a big difference between conversational, written and academic languages. Quite often students who are immersed in the language can learn the conversational and written language quite quickly (12 months). However - it takes 3+ years at a full time school being immersed in the language to learn how to complete the work academically.

Ironically - the same problem also happens to Japanese students in an English language environment. If a Grade 10 Japanese student came into my previous school in Japan who is natively Japanese, their ability to attend university in Japan will be significantly increased or decreased depending on the course. For example, more creative subjects or subjects where universities wish to have english speaking students will be at a significant advantage. Students who wanted to attend subjects such as dentistry, medicine, veterinary science and pharmacology would be at a distinct disadvantage. This is because said student was no longer in a Japanese immersive environment for a course which is extremely competitive. It's true that many of the creative subjects I mentioned above often are extremely difficult to enter - but it depends on the specific university department and their priorities.

So is it possible to get into a Japanese medical university - the short answer is yes. However - most people do not consider or do not fully understand how difficult it will be to achieve. This is mainly down to being immersed in the technical language for an extended period of time which is hard to achieve even when attending a language school IN JAPAN.

As I mentioned above, I am also a trained scientist which means I understand what it means to be able to speak certain terminology which other people (including most scientists) cannot decipher. At present, translators who have a knowledge of specialist terminologies often get paid obscene amounts of money as there are few people who understand geophysics in both say Japanese and English. There is honestly 1 or 2 translators in the world for the major languages (Japanese, German, French, Chinese etc). The same is also true in medicine, but the numbers may be on two hands for certain specialised fields in medicine.

My next comment is based on personal opinion and others will understand that Japanese psyche better than I do.

In the thread mentioned above - comments about non-Japanese doctors getting jobs is more about horses for courses. If you hold a speciality that others do not have and you have the degree along with speaking native Japanese, you will probably not be at a disadvantage. However - if you are applying for a highly sort after position and don't have much years of experience then it will be difficult to get a position. Getting jobs in smaller towns and making a reputation will help you get a job in a major hospital.

It's also true that some Japanese may not want to be treated by a non-Japanese doctor but this I believe has little to do with xenophobia. The plain fact is there are few non-Japanese doctors in Japan that serve mainly Japanese clients or being surgeons and the like.

When given a choice - people will choose what they know and are comfortable with. Some older patients in Australia prefer non sub-continent doctors more out of being able to understand the doctor and familiarity than overt racism. But then again - some old people in Australia are racist :-)

On the rare occasions that I visited a doctor in Japan, my doctor was Japanese/Filipino. He attended university in the Philippines but completed his residence in Japan along with further specialisations in Japan. To me - he looked Japanese and to my Japanese friends who also visited him he spoke fluent Japanese but had a slight Okinawan accent. However - a great bulk of his clients were english speaking.

I do wish both of you the best and hope you are successful in your endeavours.

You two are hardly the first people to want to do this. The simple fact that there are basically no foreign medical personnel in Japan should give you a hint about just how hard a proposition it is.

Hanadai is right - a whole bunch of people with decades of life experience in Japan all think it's basically impossible / simply not worth the effort that would be required. But hey, you want to work for a decade to qualify for a job you won't get in a country that doesn't want you - go right ahead.