Chapter 148: Graduation from the Medical Department

It is the cherry blossom season once again.

In the 2nd year of the Uesugi Era (the second year since Uesugi Muneyuki awakened), the graduation ceremony of Tokyo Medical and Dental University officially commenced in the university auditorium.

The Department Manager of the Medical Department, Professor Ukai, delivered a speech on stage, congratulating the medical students who had successfully graduated this year. He spoke with the posture of a sage, educating and admonishing the younger generation to possess medical ethics, to abide by the Hippocratic Oath, to promote traditional culture, to carry forward the hardworking spirit of the Yamato people, to build a medical system with Japanese characteristics, and so on and so forth.

Uesugi Muneyuki, having completed his graduation thesis defense, sat below listening. He had changed into a formal suit, yet his expression was not particularly solemn.

Because in the entire auditorium, he was the only one going into Forensic Pathology.

Watching the students in the front rows, beaming with pride as they went up one by one to receive their graduation certificates, Uesugi Muneyuki felt an indescribable sensation in his heart; he did not know if it was relief or frustration, joy or annoyance.

Forensic Pathology—not even a dog would study it!

Even though he had now achieved success and fame, and even though he had become a celebrity due to his abilities in the Inner World, Uesugi Muneyuki still felt that since one had gone through the trouble of studying medicine and finally managed to get into medical school, one should avoid the field of Forensic Pathology at all costs!

Doctors in Japan are expensive.

This "expensive" is expensive in two respects.

The first "expensive" is that the tuition is high, and the money spent to become a doctor is high (that is to say, the tuition of the Medical Department is high); the second "expensive" is the "expensive" of nobility—after becoming a doctor, one's social status is precious, and one earns a lot of money.

Taking Tokyo Medical and Dental University as an example, the entrance fee is about 280,000 yen, the tuition for each academic year is about 530,000 yen, the annual cost for textbooks is about 200,000 yen, and then there are various equipment fees, laboratory fees, medical and pharmaceutical fees, living and housing expenses, facility usage fees, and insurance premiums.

Uesugi Muneyuki lived like a young master while at school; he did not work part-time, nor did he deliberately economize, so his five-year university career cost his family 25 million yen.

Is this a lot of money?

No, this amount of money is not considered much for studying medicine in Japan, because Tokyo Medical and Dental University is a national public university! The tuition is cheaper!

If one were to attend a private medical university, this figure might continue to climb. According to what Uesugi Muneyuki knows, even at the cheapest private university, the International University of Health and Welfare, the tuition is double that of Tokyo Medical and Dental University; a five-year medical career would not cost less than 35 million yen no matter how one calculates it.

Therefore, the popular rumor in Japan that one must be prepared to spend 50 million yen to study in the medical department of a private university is no joke—it really does cost that much!

Ordinary wage-earning families simply cannot afford to send their children to study medicine; in Japan, a doctor's father is often a doctor.

At the same time, it is very difficult to get into the medical department.

Every year, nearly 30,000 people apply to the medical departments of national public universities, but the Japan Medical Association only grants a quota of 4,227 spots to all national public university medical departments; every year, over 100,000 people apply to the medical departments of private universities, but the Japan Medical Association only grants a quota of 3,026 spots to all private medical departments.

Yes, the number of doctors who can enter the medical field for employment in Japan each year is fixed. There are only so many people, and they do not easily expand enrollment; the number of medical students recruited each year is the result of multi-party consultations.

Some of Japan's institutional designs are intended to prevent internal competition within the industry, but what it manifests as is that the entrance to the medical department itself is extremely competitive. The famous University of Tokyo School of Medicine has a deviation score as high as 75, meaning only 0.5% of students can get in; the Kyoto University School of Medicine has a deviation score as high as 70, meaning only 1% of medical students can get in.

Difficulty in admission is a high threshold, and the astronomical tuition is another high threshold, not to mention the immense academic pressure and the heavy physical and psychological burden during the period as a Specialized Physician (that is, peer review), but I will not elaborate on that part.

So, since medical school is so hard to get into, so expensive, and so stressful, why is everyone still flocking to it?

The answer is: high income, high status, and an extremely long career.

If one can cross the first few major hurdles and complete two to three years of peer review, once a medical student becomes a Certified Physician like Uesugi Muneyuki, their annual income is over 4 million yen. After 5 years, becoming a Specialized Physician, their annual income easily exceeds 6 million yen. If things go relatively smoothly after ten years of general practice, the annual income of a doctor at this stage has already reached the 10 million yen level, and by this time they are only about thirty-five years old.

This is a truly high-income group.

Furthermore, the social status of doctors is also very high. Japanese people respect doctors very much. Japanese society refers to people in several professions, such as "teachers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians at the Lawmaker level," as "Sensei." Among them, teachers and doctors are "lifelong Sensei." Patients often respect them very much, and as long as one mentions that they are a doctor when socializing, one can instantly gain the respect of everyone.

At the same time, the career of a doctor is particularly long.

There is a proverb in the Japanese medical world: (A doctor's) life begins at sixty, at fifty one is still in the cradle, seventy is not considered old, eighty is just right, and ninety is extraordinary.

On this point, Germans, who are also one of the three East Asian countries, should have a deep understanding: a wrinkled, white-bearded, bald old doctor is simply more reliable than a young doctor with a full head of thick hair and fuzz on his lip.

The impossible triangle of medicine: treatment, efficiency, and fairness.

The Celestial Empire chose efficiency and fairness, while Japan chose treatment and fairness.

As for the United States, it seems to be neither efficient nor fair, only treatment; I don't know what the Americans are thinking.

This is precisely why no one studies Forensic Pathology—having finally managed to get into the medical department, who would be such an idiot as to become a Forensic Pathologist? After ten years in the industry, others in clinical practice are already earning 12 million a year, while I am still earning 5 million! And it is dirty, smelly, tiring, and one is looked down upon by society!

One by one, students went up to the stage to be awarded their degree certificates. Everyone was dressed in a suit, meticulous, smiling, and filled with awe. Successfully graduating from the medical department is a great victory in life, but it is also just the beginning of a career.

Uesugi Muneyuki remembers that some universities, such as the University of Tokyo, have extremely strict school traditions; at the graduation ceremony, every graduate is in standard male suits and trousers or female suits and skirts. However, some schools, such as Kyoto University, have very open school traditions, and the graduation ceremony is a whole cosplay convention. "Luffy," "Naruto," "Conan," "Ultraman," and "Pikachu" go up to receive their certificates one by one, and the school does not even care if they wear sumo suits or the indigenous clothing of the Hokkaido Ainu people.

"Forensic Pathology Department, Uesugi Muneyuki-kun." Just then, Dean Ukai read Uesugi Muneyuki's name.

Uesugi Muneyuki then went up to the stage.

His appearance ignited the entire auditorium. Many male medical students only then remembered: isn't this guy the Peerage man who has been in the limelight in recent years and had a huge scandal with the National Actress Shirakawa Mai?

Ugh, damn it, so envious!

Large groups of male graduates looked at Uesugi Muneyuki's imposing, solemn, and cold back with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

"Is that the Uesugi?" Most of the men who can get in to study medicine have a bit of arrogance: "Hmph~ I don't know how much of a love potion Mai-dono actually took to have lunch with him and visit the shrine together. He doesn't look like much!"

"Don't, his autopsies are very impressive."

"No matter how impressive his autopsies are, he's just a Forensic Pathologist. Just wait and see, ten years from now, we will far surpass him. We might not be able to get Mai-dono, but he definitely won't be able to touch her!"

"Hey, Kanai, do you like Mai-dono? I like Sakura from YKC48 more!"

"Oh? The one from Kagoshima, Kyushu?"

"Yeah, Miyawaki Sakura, super cute. Sakura Knights, activate!"

"Speaking of which, do you know about the haunting at the Fuji TV Odaiba Building recently?"

"Huh? I think I've heard of it!"

"It is said that someone saw the wandering Hironaka Mariko on the second basement floor of the Odaiba Building!"

"Kowai! Is it really Hironaka Mariko? That news anchor in the wall?"

"It's true, someone witnessed it, and more than once!"

Uesugi Muneyuki did not care about the noise below. He strode onto the stage, facing Dean Ukai, that hypocritical jerk.

"Congratulations, Uesugi-kun! It is truly remarkable. Your existence is simply adding luster to our entire university!" Dean Ukai smiled as he awarded the graduation certificate to Uesugi Muneyuki: "How is your health? Your Soul?"

Facing Uesugi Muneyuki, Dean Ukai felt a mix of love and hate. He loved that this kid's superb forensic skills not only brought huge benefits to Tokyo Medical and Dental University but also boosted its domestic and international reputation in one fell swoop. He hated that this kid was always causing trouble, was disobedient, and that inexplicable night-duty attack incident had caused the school a lot of trouble and forced his own bid for the presidency to be delayed by two years.

However, the positive gains from this kid were still clearly greater than the negative ones.

"Thank you, Dean, I feel fine." Uesugi Muneyuki lowered his head and took the graduation certificate: "Regarding my Specialized Physician certification..."

"Oh, I have already discussed this matter with Professor Kawachi. The hospital can assign you an assistant, as long as you pass the exam." Dean Ukai said with a smile: "The hospital will fully support Uesugi-kun's career at the Metropolitan Police Department."

In other words, the hospital does not intend to support his forensic career at the hospital?

Uesugi Muneyuki instantly understood the subtext of Director Ukai.

That old fox!

However, the affiliated hospital was indeed facing a troublesome matter recently; Uesugi Muneyuki cast his gaze toward Professor Zaizen of the First Surgery Department sitting below, as the family of the deceased, Sasaki Yohei, had launched a lawsuit against the hospital based on the Dissection reports of Uesugi Muneyuki and Professor Okochi.

Professor Zaizen was forced to appear in court repeatedly, leaving this once-illustrious and highly skilled professor of the First Surgery Department in a wretched state.

Director Ukai was very angry about this matter, but he could not move either Professor Okochi or Uesugi Muneyuki.

It would be better if this troublemaker didn't stay in the hospital; go to your Metropolitan Police Department and examine your corpses!

Just like that, in the season of falling cherry blossoms, Uesugi Muneyuki officially graduated from Tokyo Medical and Dental University, becoming a glorious Official Forensic Pathologist who had only completed two months of Peer Review!

Immediately following graduation were the series of exams at the end of March, including the oral exam, written exam, and practical clinical operations for the Certified Physician certification.

Uesugi Muneyuki passed them all on the first attempt.

Just like that, at 23 years old, Uesugi Muneyuki had completed the triple jump from intern to Certified Physician to Specialized Physician in the one year since he started as a forensic pathologist.

It was simply the fastest legend in the Japanese medical world!

If a clinical medical student had done this, the entire Japanese medical world would be in an uproar, with various octogenarians, academic authorities, and pharmacology bigwigs coming out to stop them, exclaiming slogans like "Japanese medicine is doomed" or "the end of a defeated nation," and they would be attacked by the masses.

But Uesugi Muneyuki was a forensic pathologist.

A forensic pathologist, ah, then it's fine.

And as Uesugi Muneyuki officially passed the Specialized Physician exam, the proposal to establish the Special Mission Unit at the Metropolitan Police Department was officially put on the agenda.

On a bright and sunny spring morning, the young lady Minami officially took the proposal to establish the Special Mission Unit and delivered it to her father's desk.

She had been waiting for this day for a very long time!

(End of this chapter)