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Obituaries

Susumu Wakai

BMJ 2021; 375 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2701 (Published 05 November 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;375:n2701
  1. Masamine Jimba
Credit: Medical Principle Co Limited

When he was a medical student at the University of Tokyo, Susumu Wakai fought against the new medical doctor’s law in Japan, which enforced no-pay employment for medical interns after graduation. The movement began in January 1968 and became a university wide conflict that lasted for about a year. This experience led Susumu Wakai to commit himself to equity and social justice throughout his lifetime.

After graduating he studied at the Department of Anatomy, then became a neurosurgeon, and practised brain surgery in Japan and Taiwan from 1980 to 1983. In December 1983 he started his career conducting biomedical research at the US National Institutes of Health. Although the experience was exciting, he started to ponder the purpose of research. As a Christian medical doctor following a protestant, non-church movement led by Kanzo Uchimura, he reoriented his research direction …

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