HU-plus（Vol.6）2018年4月号

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学長からのメッセージMessage from PresidentLife is all about Encounters, Eye-opening Experiences, and Meditations散詩語録　春は出会いと別れの季節です。私事でしかも遠い昔の話で恐縮ですが、1977年春、私も「人生の師」のお一人である13歳年上であった故馬場逸志先生との出会いがありました。　大学を卒業して整形外科の医局に入局した当時、先生は脊椎脊髄の外科にあらゆる情熱を傾けておられました。患者さんと向き合う臨床が全ての先生で、実験のための実験や、博士号のための実験はしないよう指導されておられました。ご自分も博士にはなられず、その分、臨床には極めて厳しい指導で有名でした。先生のご業績で世界に通用するものも多く、亡くなられたのち、手術書が英語の本としてアメリカで出版されました。　私自身も手術中によく叱られ、しばしば立ち往生することもありましたし、器材を医師に渡す「器械出し」の看護師さんが涙ぐむことも時にありました（先生、今なら間違いなく、ハラスメントですよ）。「朝早くから夜までずっと病院にいろ。論文を書け。身だしなみに気を付けろ。朝シャンプーをしろ。芸術を愛せ」。整形外科から生活に至るまで指導を受けました。　厳しい先生でしたが、もちろん人を引きつける魅力にあふれていました。当時「手の外科」の世界的な権威だった恩師の故津下健哉教授のところには、海外から見学者が大勢やってこられました。先生はそのたびに彼らを自宅に招き、奥さんの手料理を振る舞われたのです。私も「英語をしゃべりに来い」と一緒にしばしば呼んでいただきました。　その後、広島市立安佐市民病院に移られてからも、先生は辛口で「英語論文書いているか。手術やっているか。留学しろ。教授を目指せ。教授になれ」と、口癖のように繰り返し繰り返し言われました。　私は43歳の時、島根医科大学の教授に就任し、講演会のあと、玉造温泉の大広間で同門会員が集合する教室の忘年会に馬場先生をお招きしました。来賓挨拶に立たれた先生は、シーンと静まり返った中、マイクの前に立ち、一声「越智には教授になれ、教授になれと言い続けてきたが、まさか本当になるとは、思わなかった」と話されました。会場が微妙な笑いに包まれたことを懐かしく思い出します。　私は世界の整形外科医があっと驚くような面白い仕事をしたかっただけで、決して教授になりたかったわけではありませんでした。しかしながら、馬場先生のように励まし、背中を押し続けてくださった先生と巡り合えたことが天幸だったと思っています。　人生論で知られる文芸評論家、亀井勝一郎の「人生 邂逅し 開眼し 瞑目す」という言葉があります。思いがけない人生の出会いが、自らの道を気付かせ、肩を押してくれる。皆さんもそんな出会いが2018年の春に必ず待っていると思います。ご縁を大切にしてください。かいこうかいげんめいもくSpring is often said to be the season of ‶encounters" and ‶farewells" in Japan. Allow me to indulge in a personal anecdote, about someone I met a long, long time ago. It was in the spring of 1977 that my encounter with Dr. Itsushi Baba, a man 13 years older than me, took place. Dr. Baba has been a mentor and role model for me since then.When I joined the Department of Orthopedics at Hiroshima University after graduating from medical school, Dr. Baba was putting his heart and soul into spine/spinal cord surgeries. To him, face-to-face clinical practice with his patients seemed to be all that mattered, and in fact Dr. Baba was advising us not to conduct experiments for the sake of them, or for the purpose of earning PhDs. Naturally, Dr. Baba did not have a PhD., but he was known for his strictness in clinical practice. Many of his accomplishments were world-class, and following his death, his books on surgery were published in English in the United States of America. I was often reprimanded by Dr. Baba in the operating theater, rendering me speechless, and I remember the theatre nurses responsible for handing surgical instruments to Dr. Baba, were sometimes in tears (these days, Dr. Baba would probably be accused of bullying harassment). Whether work-related or related to my private life, Dr. Baba often gave me the following advice: ‶Stay in the hospital from early morning until night. Publish articles. Be meticulous with your grooming and appearance. Shampoo your hair in the morning. Love art...”Although Dr. Baba was very strict as a mentor, his overall personality was actually very charming. In those days, my ex-tutor Professor Kenya Tsuge was a world-famous authority in ‶Hand Surgery." We used to have many visitors from overseas who came to see his surgeries. Every time Professor Tsuge had visitors from abroad, it was Dr. Baba who kindly invited them for home-cooked meals at his place prepared by his wife. I was also often asked to be present at those home parties, simply in order to ‶come and practice English with the visitors from overseas countries."Even after he was transferred to Hiroshima City Asa Citizens Hospital, every now and then Dr. Baba continued to ask me: ‶Are you still publishing articles in English? Still operating? Go and study abroad. Aspire to become a professor. You must become a professor."At the age of 43, I was appointed as a professor at Shimane Medical University. I remember inviting Dr. Baba to give a lecture in Shimane. Following his lecture, I invited Dr. Baba to an end-of-year party attended by most of my fellow orthopedic surgeons at the local restaurant located in Tamatsukuri Onsen (hot spring). Upon our request for a speech by our esteemed guest, Dr. Baba stood in front of the microphone, and surrounded by absolute silence in the large room, he made the following comments: ‶Although I have always urged Ochi to become a professor, I never thought he would actually become one," which was a kind of joke he was good at telling. I fondly recall some rather awkward chuckles breaking the silence.I only wanted to do earth-shattering work to surprise orthopedic surgeons worldwide, and never actually wanted to become a professor. However, it was an absolute honor and pleasure for me to know someone like Dr. Baba, who never failed to encourage and give me a supportive push.Known for his work “人生論 (Essays on Life),” Mr. Katsuichiro Kamei, a noted Japanese literary critic, left the following saying : 「人生邂逅し　開眼し　瞑目す」 (“Life is all about Encounters, Eye-opening Experiences, and Meditations.” Sometimes, an unexpected encounter with someone can make you realize something about the path you should be following in your life, and that someone can encourage you by tapping you on the shoulder, asking you to step forward. I personally think that such an encounter is probably waiting for you in the spring of 2018. Please make each encounter count in your life.かいこうかいげんめいもく001