From the City of Flowers to the City of Steel – Ryo’s story

After one year at Sheffield Children’s, Paediatric Surgeon Ryo Tamura returned to his hometown of Kyoto, Japan this month. Before setting off, he shared all about his experience in Sheffield, and what key lessons and inspirations he will be taking back to Japan.

Meet Ryo!

During his 12 months at Sheffield Children’s, Ryo worked as a Urology Clinical Fellow covering Paediatric Surgery and Urology. He has been working closely with Caroline MacDonald, Simona Rusu and the Urology team to develop his skills in paediatric urology.

Ryo said: “When I was working in Japan, I was asked to take on a caseload of paediatric urology. However, I didn’t actually have any specific training in this area! I started to search for training and found that much of the training available in Japan was very adult focussed. So, I looked further afield and found Sheffield Children’s Urology department. I spoke to Caroline, who agreed to support my development – which was great.”

After graduating medical school in Japan in 2004, Ryo actually became the first paediatric surgeon to visit the UK as part of a joint initiative with the Royal College of Surgeons and the Japanese Society of Surgeons when he visited Newcastle in 2018.  Six years later, Ryo returned, this time supporting the Urology team at Sheffield Children’s.

The Urology team provides specialist care for children and young people experiencing issues with their kidneys, ureters, bladder and genitals. They deliver care both in the hospital and at home in South Yorkshire and beyond. As part of his role at Sheffield Children’s, Ryo spent time working in theatres, alongside supporting patients and families alongside Caroline in a clinic environment.

Ryo said: “Whilst I enjoyed being in theatres, being in a clinic environment was an invaluable experience for me. I needed to get to know families quickly, review their backgrounds and work with the team to determine a treatment plan, which was different to what I had done previously, but the team were very supportive.”

Adapting to life in Sheffield

Whilst the two cities are nearly 6000 miles apart, did you know that Sheffield and Kyoto are both famous for their cherry blossoms? As it turns out, this isn’t the only thing that the two cities have in common, as Ryo explained: “Whilst Kyoto is very different to Sheffield, both are connected by their hard-working healthcare workforce. Everybody that I worked with at Sheffield Children’s works really hard and goes above and beyond to care for patients and their families.”

Ryo was particularly impressed by the holistic care delivered by teams at Sheffield Children’s and appreciated the value of collaborating with different teams whilst supporting patients and families.

Ryo said: “There are some big differences between working in the UK and Japan. One of the biggest is working as part of a multidisciplinary team. Having a lot of different departments involved in the care of each patient is definitely rare in the hospital that I work in, but I think it is really important. It is definitely something that I will be taking back with me.”

Outside of work, Ryo was able to sample a cornerstone of life in Sheffield:  the city’s abundant green spaces. Ryo said: “There are so many green spaces in Sheffield, so I’ve enjoyed walking around the city. Kyoto is much busier than Sheffield, so I have really enjoyed that element. I’ve also enjoyed the culture! Whether coffee shops or pubs, we don’t have anything like this where I’ve come from, so I’ve really enjoyed spending time with friends in this way.”

Final thoughts

Now having returned to Kyoto, Ryo reflected on the support that he received from the Urology team during his time at Sheffield Children’s.

Ryo said: “The team has been really kind. They make sure to involve me in conversations and are always asking about my opinion which is really great. Sometimes, I feel a little bit shy, especially because of the language barrier, but they always bring me into the conversation, so I felt welcome right away.

“I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody who helped me during my time in Sheffield. I won’t forget this place and have learnt so much in such a short space of time.”