A Leader's Prophecy: SFC in 15 Years | Shohei Onishi (Dean, Graduate School of Health Management)

2009.02.19

I took the entrance exam for the Keio University School of Medicine in 1971. In the 38 years since then, I have only spent a little less than three years outside the Keio environment, at Yokohama Municipal Hospital. So for 35 years, I have been like a frog in a well, always within Keio. I spent 15 years as a student and doctor at the Keio University School of Medicine, 20 years as a faculty member at the Sports Medicine Research Center, and for the last five years, my time has overlapped with my position at the Graduate School of Health Management. The title is "SFC in 15 Years," but I did not personally witness the founding of SFC. Since I was at the Shinanomachi campus for 15 years, I would like to look back at the past. What did Shinanomachi become 15 years later from that time? There is no comparison with the current Shinanomachi. This is about the period from 1971 to 1986.

When I first enrolled, I was surprised to find classrooms in wooden buildings. The hospital wards from my student days are still in use today. The only major change in the hospital's function was the construction of a new 11-story building in the Showa 60s (mid-1980s). Furthermore, the significant progress in IT for administrative and accounting processes and clinical practice, with the introduction of networks for clinical functions, can be cited as a change over these 15 years. Along with these changes in wards and clinical systems, were there also changes in the people involved in medical care, such as doctors and nurses? The world of the "Ivory Tower" did not change during those 15 years. This was true for better or for worse. Young, novice doctors were thoroughly trained by their senior supervising physicians. I believe it is no exaggeration to call it an apprenticeship system. Once, while I was eating in the hospital cafeteria during my lunch break, a senior doctor yelled at me, "If you have time to eat, you should be on the ward treating patients." However, he was the doctor most trusted and respected by the junior physicians. I feel that such memorable doctors have disappeared now. I remember that the mutual trust was very strong, and the same was true with the nurses. Today, there is a lot of talk about the importance of communication, but back then, it was built naturally.

Now, I am studying alongside many students. I do not know how the graduate students feel about me, but while I may not be able to connect with them in the same way as in the old days, I try to ensure they can interact with me without stress. I would like to hear the opinions of the graduate students who have read this.

I remind myself that even if the buildings are new and different, what truly matters is the spirit of the people who inhabit them.

(Date of publication: 2009/02/19)