Natsumi Sakugawa learned English, moved thousands of miles away from her native Japan and then survived years of college in America.<\/p>\n
When she entered an internship program at UCLA Medical Center, she realized that being able to communicate in English was the least of her worries. The University of La Verne alumna, who was enrolled in the Master\u2019s Child Life International Program at the time, encountered patients who only spoke languages such as Spanish and Armenian.<\/p>\n
Her teacher, Dr. Leslie Young, says Sakugawa\u2019s story is a familiar one among her international child life students, who encounter many of the same challenges of being in a strange land. Young is a University of La Verne Associate Professor of Education and Program Chair of the Masters Child Life Program, through the Advanced Studies in Education and Human Development in the College of Education and Organizational Leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just in awe of them,\u201d Young said. \u201cI could never do what they do. Their passion, dedication and determination always shines through. It is an honor to have the students from Japan in my program as well as all international students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sakugawa is one of the more than 30 Japanese students who have come to La Verne to complete the Master\u2019s Child Life International Program. Though Young has taught students from other countries such as Canada, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico and Germany, most of them have been from the Land of the Rising Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey come over here with the sole purpose of learning child life because they do not have a clinical master\u2019s-level education program in Japan,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n
The wave of students from Japan began 12 years ago when Young came to La Verne full time after working as Director of the Child Life Department at Loma Linda University Children\u2019s Hospital. She connected with a Japanese representative through the Child Life Council, and their friendship turned into an opportunity to serve Japanese students interested in the field.<\/p>\n
Young served as keynote speaker in 2007 for the Child Life Annual Conference in Japan, and she toured hospitals where she had the opportunity to talk to doctors and other healthcare workers about the field of child life and the importance of providing not only excellent medical care for children but understanding the importance of caring for the whole child.<\/p>\n
Sakugawa became inspired to become a child life specialist during one of Young\u2019s visits to Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Child life specialists work with children and their families to help them cope with stressful and traumatic situations, particularly those related to illness, healthcare and hospitalization.<\/p>\n
Akane Kurosaki, who is currently enrolled in the program, said she learned about the field while working as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse in Japan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have often seen children who had experienced hospitalization or medical procedures who feared the medical specialists in white uniforms,\u201d Kurosaki said. \u201cAlthough many medical specialists who are working in a pediatric unit know about this issue, they do not have enough time to address it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For international students, becoming a certified child life specialist can be difficult.<\/p>\n
Students say some of the biggest hurdles are adapting to American culture and knowing English well enough to use it in an academic setting. Nobumi Yamaguchi, a current child life student from Japan\u2019s Nara prefecture, said the struggle to learn English was beyond what she expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realized that learning in a master\u2019s program was different than going to language school. At first, I felt too depressed to continue studying. However, the more I use English, the more I feel confident to use it,\u201d Yamaguchi said.<\/p>\n
After taking required classes, learning the American healthcare system, completing a Child Life 840-hour internship at an American hospital, and pass the National Child Life Certification Exam, the Japanese students then have the challenge of convincing the hospitals back home that their expertise is needed.<\/p>\n
All of Young\u2019s Japanese students so far have obtained jobs in Japan at hospitals where child life specialists previously did not exist. In fact, Sakugawa made headlines when she became the first child life specialist in Okinawa, Japan\u2019s southernmost prefecture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be the first one and help make the hospital a better place for children in my town,\u201d Sakugawa said.<\/p>\n
Young\u2019s students also provide inservices to U.S. students, sharing their experiences as child life specialists in Japan and what the healthcare system is like there.<\/p>\n
The world of healthcare in Japan is slowly starting to see the value of the services they provide and the need for families\u2019 involvement in their children\u2019s care.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, almost every practicing Japanese CLS in Japan is a product of Dr. Leslie Young\u2019s. She is \u2018The Miracle Worker\u2019 for the Japanese CLS future,\u201d Kurosaki said.<\/p>\n
Being the instrument of change not only in the lives of her students, but also in the Japanese healthcare system, is something that makes Young proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has absolutely changed my life as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Natsumi Sakugawa learned English, moved thousands of miles away from her native Japan and then survived years of college in America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[379],"tags":[374,9730,231],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","tag-child-life","tag-college-of-health","tag-lfce","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne","legacy_tags-child-life-specialist","legacy_tags-college-of-education-organizational-leadership","legacy_tags-dr-leslie-young","legacy_tags-japan","legacy_tags-la-verne","legacy_tags-masters-child-life-international-program","legacy_tags-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n