For the eighth FYRM session of the academic year 2018, we hosted Dr. Nobuhiko Hayashi, an Obstetrician with a sub-specialty in fetal medicine. After he graduated from the University of Tokyo (Biophysics and Biochemistry) in 2007, Dr. Hayashi graduated from Chiba University School of Medicine in 2011. During his OB/GY residency training program, Dr. Hayashi realized that there are not enough support systems for the diagnosis of fetal diseases. As a result, he established the NPO for Family and Baby Wellness and underwent a training program at The Fetal Medicine Foundation in the UK from 2015 to 2018. Dr. Hayashi's primary interest is in advancing maternal-fetal medicine without undermining human dignity. He also serves as a member of JMA-JDN, and as an advisor for Ninshin-SOS. He is going to work as an obstetrician at some hospitals in Chiba again from next month.

During the session, Dr. Hayashi talked about what “fetal medicine” is and why he chose it as a sub-specialty. He also discussed details and hardships in establishing his NPO, road map towards solving future problems, and what he had learned in the training program at The Fetal Medicine Foundation, along with his personal mission, future vision, and role-models. We also discussed career paths for those hoping to go abroad for clinical experience and perspectives on having a global career in the near future.

Through establishing an NPO as a representative, he is working to realize a society where fetal medicine would become more common in Japan, where nobody would be excluded from society even if they have disabilities, and where everyone would understand what it is to have a disability and support with each other. We were so moved by his speech and his passion towards solving these social problems. For us, his career so far seemed satisfactory and without any hardships, however, he explained he struggles a great deal to convince those who are not willing to accept fetal medicine as there are still many ethical problems to be discussed.

In the end of the session, Dr. Hayashi gave us a special message about what we should do after we fortunately find our role models. He said that if we want to do something which nobody has ever tried before, we should not care about what people around us say. After the session, every participant was grateful to hear about his experiences and they actively asked many questions.