“I’m fortunate to be studying at a graduate school that specializes in radiology.”
Radiological Technology Major, Graduate School of Radiological Technology (second year)
The opening of the graduate school at Gunma Prefectural College of Health Sciences was absolutely wonderful news to me. Prior to that there were no graduate schools within Gunma Prefecture where one could gain deeper specialized knowledge of radiology. For that reason radiology technicians within the prefecture had no other options other than going to graduate schools for the neighboring fields of engineering or information studies and writing their research theses while choosing courses that were relatively close to their own specialty, or else taking leave from work and going to graduate schools in other prefectures. Therefore, I consider myself truly fortunate to have had the chance to study under such distinguished professors who are widely known throughout the academic world, such as President Doi, at a graduate school that is open nights and which has a graduate school for radiological technology.
I adopted an approach of attending graduate school after work combining my regular work schedule with paid leave. Last year, which was my first year, I attended classes at a rate of about three times a week at peak times, where I would provide comments on papers that had been written overseas or receive advice concerning how to proceed with my research. I struggled enormously with my English, and would oftentimes have to pull all-nighters in order to get my assignments done. But this year, which is now my second year, the number of classes I’m taking has decreased and I can now get to work in earnest on my research theme, which is “Research on the connection between various types of cancer and visceral fat using CT data.” This research will clarify the relationship between the onset of different types of cancer with fat levels and the distribution of fat. I feel that doing this holds promise in the future for the early detection of cancer and for applications in diagnostic imaging support systems to assist in diagnoses by physicians. The professor who is in charge of guiding my research offers me cordial advice, yet at the same time also encourages me by saying that he wants me to present as many papers as possible. From this I got a feel for his enthusiastic desire to send us out to the forefronts of research and clinical practice.
I consider research to be a process of resolving your own questions through your own efforts, or of deeply pursuing things that you take an interest in or find fascinating. But I feel that by placing myself in graduate school I can now come into contact with information that I would not have noticed on my own or which would have been out of my reach, which has allowed me to draw close to the research subject from a wide-ranging perspective. As a radiology technician, I would like to contribute to team medical care while taking pride in my work. My hope is that I will be able to interact with lots of people here at this long-awaited graduate school established in Gunma Prefecture.