Medical School in UK to Japan

Hi Everyone

My ultimate goal is to live and work in Japan, due to family and personal reasons. I have been accepted into a medical school in the UK, which would be a course of study from age 19 to 24. I am aware that it is near impossible to practice medicine in Japan as a foreign medical graduate. Thus, I have started to reconsider my course of action.

I am considering moving to Japan immediately and enrolling in a language school, with the ultimate aim of passing JLPT N1. I already have a working knowledge of Japanese, although I am still unsure of how realistic such an aim is. After this, I would attempt to enrol in a medical program in Japan, possibly through the MEXT undergraduate scholarship, thus enabling me to practice in Japan as a doctor. I would be able to live in Japan for free, and could I suppose sustain a minor income through casual or formal english teaching.

Would such a path be possible? Or would it actually be easier to go through with medical school in my home country whilst learning Japanese on the side? Is it simply impossible for someone not born in Japan to work there as a doctor?

Thank you for your help, and I apologize for my question being so long winded.

This question has been asked several times on this forum. If you look through the questions posted earlier, even last year, you will read some interesting comments.
However, I do know that there are clinics in Japan especially Tokyo who employ medical staff that have been trained in Europe or USA. In fact when I lived there, my doctor at the Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic was a Scots trained guy.
I have looked for the email, but cannot find it, but they have been in Shiba-koen since 1951, especially for the ex-pat community. Have a look at their website. Their phone number is 81-3-3436 -3028, and if you were interested enough, it could be worth a phone call to get their email, and write to them asking how they hire their staff. They are not the only ones, as there are numerous clinics for westerners.

One possibility would be for you to finish your med school education in your home country while studying Japanese and then coming to Japan for further work in the field. With a foreign license you wouldn't be able to touch patients, but that's not to say you couldn't work in Japan. I teach at a university and I've known a number of foreign doctors who've come here to do a Japanese PhD and conduct research in Japan. If you decide to go that route, learn as much Japanese as you can before moving here. And pass JLPT1.