On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the Health Sciences Leadership Program (HSLP) hosted a Discussion Café with Imperial College London. From Imperial, four students participated in this event. Additionally, we also had very fruitful exchanges with students from our university, who had previously studied abroad at Imperial, and with other international students at our university.

This event was divided into two sessions. At first, we focused on the contrast between Japan’s top-down healthcare system and the United Kingdom’s autonomous medical system. We discussed which is more important for patients: doctor-led strict safety or autonomous quick access to care. We also talked about which system may be more effective in the context of an aging society and a shortage of physicians.

In the second session, we focused on the different healthcare dilemmas faced by Japan and the UK in the era of globalization. We discussed how Japan faces issues such as limited access to medical care for uninsured people and language barriers, while the UK provides broader access to healthcare but has stricter restrictions related to visas and immigration after Brexit. Based on these issues, we also considered several questions: whether we have witnessed or experienced medical disparities related to immigration, what healthcare workers should have done in these situations, and what kinds of policies or systems are needed to create a society where medical care is accessible to all.

Many students, including several first-year students, participated in this event, and we were able to engage in productive and insightful discussions. We hope that both universities continue to develop further and that the exchanges between our university and Imperial become even stronger in the future.