We are a small clinic in a rural area of Mie prefecture, but Mie has a noticeable shortage of diabetes specialists when compared to other prefectures, and the number of diabetes specialists per 100 thousand people is 1.7 (nationwide average is 3.4). Sadly, this is the nation's lowest rate. The shortage of doctors is becoming a big problem as the elderly-age era nears upon us, and we are of course no exception.However, the fact that there is a clinic specializing in diabetes like ours is not well known. It will become important to further disseminate such recognition.It can be said that our hospital's strengths are that diabetes specialists - who are rare in this area - are in charge of medical treatment. We are said to be in an area of human resources difficulties, but we have many enthusiastic medical staff with diabetes care instructor qualifications, and it is also possible for patients to receive diabetes medical instruction (nutritional guidance, exercise therapy instruction, foot care, etc.), resulting in happy patients.
One of our strengths is the ability to accurately evaluate complications of lifestyle-related diseases, and we also possess testing equipment for evaluating complications such as ultrasound equipment, diabetes neuropathy testing equipment, as well as x-rays and electrocardiograms. It is rare for other hospitals and clinics to obtain examination results as accurate as ours.In addition, we have established an educational hospitalization system at hospitals with hospitalization facilities within the same corporation, and closely cooperate with regional core hospitals including Mie University Hospital. We also often hold patient seminars including a diabetes classroom. Also, recently out-of-hospital pharmacies are becoming common, but we are putting emphasis on in-hospital prescription to allow for the elderly patients to easily obtain medicine within our facility.As such, it is indispensable to care for patients from all angles, especially in our field where we face diabetes patients and the elderly on a daily basis.
In order to cope with diabetes, physician dedication and daily communication are some of the most important tasks. That is why I try to "approach work straightforward and seriously", and consciously try to explain to patients about careful medical treatment, without using medical terminologies to the best of my extent.With lifestyle-related diseases, patients may develop various complications, and various exams are necessary for early detection. Explain thoroughly and carefully until the patient fully understands, and hand all the examination results. Such open communication can be said to be the hallmark of our clinic.
It is common for a big hospital to examine and send back a patient in just a few minutes, and a common complaint amongst patients is that they didn't get to "talk enough". When dealing with the elderly it is important how much you can counsel them, and the treatment of diabetes begins from first thoroughly hearing them out. This applies to not only doctors but also the nurses and nutritionists, and in our clinic we first spend 20 minutes discussing information about nutrition when a patient visits. After that, the nurse will listen to the patient's story by checking for complications. That's why I hope that the patients think that they're "tired from talking so much" by the time they see me. There is no patient who "hasn't talked enough", and such thorough communication has also contributed to the high satisfaction rate.Also, a common source of headache at a large hospital is the long waiting time, but in a smaller clinic such as ours we can reduce this waiting time as much as possible. We can also alleviate a little of this pain by providing diet / exercise instructions and foot care during this waiting time. Since elderly people are usually the ones affected by lifestyle-related diseases, it is more important than anything to devise measures to assemble treatments from the perspective of the elderly.
As mentioned earlier, there is very little competition when it comes to clinics which have set their specialty to lifestyle-related diseases, and we have widely become accepted by the community after 2 and a half years since establishment of our clinic. In recent years, the fact that there have been patients who agree with our philosophy and come from outside Mie also serve as validation of our efforts.It is expected that diabetic patients will continue to increase, and I think that demand for diabetes specialists will rise further in this region.In the future, I am hoping to establish branch hospitals if we are lucky, but unfortunately Mie prefecture is being plagued by a serious shortage of doctors. The number of diabetes specialists has also remained stagnant. That is why, more than anything, I believe that we should first contribute to local healthcare while tackling tasks in front of us one by one.
Since I have remained involved in the education and guidance of medical students and interns at the Mie University School of Medicine, as a part-time instructor during the doctor training periods, I hope to instill the duty and fun of diabetes treatment and hope that as many doctors as possible will become involved in community medicine.
