Virtual Entrepreneur

University Students Find Niche In Night Clinic

Daily Yomiuri Online:
When preparing for his university entrance exams, Yohei Kiguchi found he could rarely be absent from class to go to the doctor, even when he had caught a cold.

This experience gave him the idea of a walk-in clinic, where people could visit in the same way they would pop into a convenience store after school or work.

The 19-year-old Tokyo University freshmen opened Collabo Clinic Shinjuku last November together with about 20 of his friends and classmates from Tokyo University, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and other schools.

The clinic is a 1-minute walk from JR Shinjuku Station’s west exit, an area filled with both workers and students, and is open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

It seems as if Kiguchi’s idea has really caught on, and the clinic has an increasing number of regular visitors. One of them, a 38-year-old man said, ‘I can’t get out of the office when we’re busy, so it’s really convenient to have a clinic open [when I’m free].’

Kiguchi’s idea captured the imagination of Masahiro Kami, 38, an affiliate assistant professor at Tokyo University’s Institute of Medical Science and alumnus of Kiguchi’s high school, prompting him to assist Kiguchi by introducing him to doctors and dispensing medical advice.

With the support of his friends and classmates from university, Kiguchi began planning the clinic with three basic provisions:

* It must be open at convenient times;

* It must be in a location handy for commuting workers and students;

* There must be close communication between doctors and patients.

5 doctors work part-time at the clinic in the evenings after spending their days researching or working at a hospital.

The clinic has 2 treatment rooms, and the doctor on duty switches between them, allowing the empty room to be used to prepare patients for treatment, thus increasing the time available for the doctor to talk with the patient.

Medical charts were visualized and designed to accurately display patients’ symptoms, and free online medical charts and an Internet billing system make for an improved service.

It usually takes between 20 million yen and 30 million yen to open a clinic, but Collabo Clinic Shinjuku only needed 1.5 million yen. The students found an office at a discounted rate, and were able to buy medical equipment cheaply on the Internet.

The clinic plans to apply this spring to become an incorporated medical institution, and in collaboration with interested entrepreneurs, the clinic’s operators also aim to eventually open franchises.

‘Despite having little knowledge or experience, I hope this idea will help bring about the kind of medical care people really want,’ Kiguchi said.