Why I First Thought About Pursuing a Ph.D.

A Turning Point in My Life

At the age of 21, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. I spent six months in treatment and hospitalization, uncertain about my future. Thanks to the dedicated care of doctors and nurses, I eventually recovered and was able to leave the hospital. I am still deeply grateful to the medical staff of Akashi City Hospital, as well as to the friends and classmates who visited and supported me during that time.

That experience forced me to ask myself some difficult questions:

• What should I do with the life I was fortunate enough to keep?
• What is something only I can contribute?

Two answers crystallized in my mind:

✅ I want to do work that can save people. ✅ Since my life was saved by the accumulation of science and medicine, I want to give something back through science and medicine.

This became the foundation for my career direction.

From Technology to Medicine

Before falling ill, my interests were quite different. Around that time, the American TV series 24 was popular, and I admired the idea of intelligence analysts working for justice. I studied electrical and information engineering at Kansai University and enjoyed solving programming assignments faster than most of my peers.

But after my illness, my perspective shifted.

💡 I wanted to use information technology in a way that only I could — something connected to medicine.

I began to wonder if IT × Medicine could be my unique way of giving back. While many people work in medical technology, not many have the perspective of being a former patient.

At my university, there was no dedicated program in medical engineering. So I decided to apply to graduate school at another university.

First Encounters with Research

I eventually joined the Graduate School of System Informatics at Kobe University, where I studied MRI under Professor Etsuko Kumamoto. This was the first time I learned about the existence of a Ph.D. program.

At that stage, I did not fully understand what a doctorate was. Still, I vaguely thought:

• Maybe the Ph.D. is the “true” goal of a researcher.
• If I can reach the doctoral level, perhaps it would be my way of giving back to science and medicine.

uring my master’s program, I presented at two international conferences, receiving an award at one of them. But even with these achievements, I couldn’t yet imagine going straight into a Ph.D.

Why I Hesitated

There were two major reasons I stepped back from immediate doctoral studies:

✅ Delay in starting a career Because of a gap year and time lost to illness, I was already four years behind my peers. Pursuing a Ph.D. would mean another three years of delay. At a time when my friends were earning salaries and starting families, I couldn’t find the courage to postpone life even longer.

✅ Immaturity in research I felt that my master’s research was rushed, partly because I lacked a strong foundation from my undergraduate days. As a result, I did not feel confident about my academic abilities.

Even with these doubts, I held onto my motivation to contribute at the intersection of IT and medicine.

Entering Industry

Ultimately, I decided to begin my career in the medical device industry and joined ARKRAY Inc., a company specializing in clinical testing instruments. They gave me an opportunity despite my lack of prior experience in embedded programming and the risk of health relapse. I remain truly grateful for that chance.

For nearly three years, I worked on the development and design of embedded software for medical testing equipment. After that, I moved to Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., where I continue my career to this day.

Looking Back

This was the period when I first began to think about a Ph.D. — not yet as a concrete plan, but as a long-term aspiration. My illness, my gratitude to medicine, and my exposure to research all planted the seed. Even though I chose to enter the industry first, that seed never disappeared.

👉 This reflection is part of my “Working Professional Ph.D. Memoir” series, where I share the unique path of balancing industry and academia in Japan. In future posts, I will describe how I eventually returned to pursue a Ph.D. years later, and what that journey taught me.