Special Lecture for Japanese Nursing Students at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
Dr. Ko Niitsu, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing & Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell, delivered a special lecture for the third-year undergraduate nursing students at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine on Christmas 2025. He reflected on the academic journey that led him to become a nursing professor in the United States after graduating from a high school in Japan. He then described the similarities and differences in nursing education and roles between Japan and the United States.
The Hamamatsu University School of Medicine and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) became official partners in 2024 and launched a study-abroad program in which undergraduate nursing students spend about a week at UNMC to learn from nursing faculty, observe the simulation lab, shadow nurses at the university hospital, and more. In September 2025, two senior nursing students from Hamamatsu participated in the study abroad program. Dr. Yoshifumi Kido, professor of nursing at Hamamatsu, and Dr. Beth Beam, Associate Professor and Director of Global Health at UNMC, have been leading this study abroad program. Dr. Niitsu was an international student from Japan who studied nursing at UNMC. As an alumnus of UNMC, he was invited to deliver an inaugural special lecture at Hamamatsu in 2024.
A total of 17 undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the International Nursing course participated in this special lecture. Dr. Kido and Dr. Yuriko Miura, Associate Professor of Nursing at Hamamatsu, are the instructors of this course. “Professor Niitsu’s stories about overcoming language and cultural barriers to succeed in the United States always inspire Japanese students”, said Dr. Kido. Dr. Miura added, “By listening to the experiences of Dr. Niitsu and other Japanese nursing professionals, our students appeared to be developing a more concrete image of their future careers”.
Dr. Beam stated, “It is such a pleasure to welcome Japanese students to our campus each fall. Seeing our students welcome the student visitors and engage in learning from one another in the context of becoming nurses is such a powerful opportunity. I think we realize in spending time together that our challenges each day in clinical care and nursing education are more similar than different. My hope is that nursing empowerment is strengthened in both countries in the process.”