Thoughts on Team Medical Dragon

Team Medical Dragon creates a strong dramatic tension through depicting the politics of a Japanese medical hospital and how each doctor tackles the issues they face using their own medical philosophy. The conflict isn't simply about good doctors defeating bad doctors, but how best to bring reform to a corrupt system.

The main character, Asada Ryuuto, is a former doctor who sees no value in the current medical system. He is an accomplished surgeon who has worked in NGOs, and the team he led there was distinguished and incredibly skilled, earning the name "Team Medical Dragon". However, Asada is now a washed-up doctor who refuses to work again, even at the pleading of his friend Miki, who is an accomplished nurse herself. Asada is approached by Akira Katou, an assistant professor of the Meishin University Center, who offers him a position, but he declines. Asada refuses to become a lapdog bowing to a rigid and stale system, but Miki suddenly collapses, having come down with pnuemothorax. Asada quickly saves Miki with makeshift surgical instruments, a lifesaving decision to be sure, but a potentially illegal one. Miki had demonstrated symptoms prior but refused to be seen by any doctor except Asada, so convinced by Miki's determination, Asada once again becomes a doctor. Despite his agreement, though, Asada will not be a simple servant in the Japanese medical system, so Asada and Katou must navigate a tense partnership with each other and the system they plan to change. 

Meishin University Center is a hospital meant to represent the author's thoughts of Japanese medicine at the time: corrupt, inefficient, and downright callous towards the well-being of patients and doctors. Many chapters are dedicated to examining how patients and doctors both suffer under the system, covering issues such as medical malpractice, undertrained staff, and corrupt professors. The major goal of the story is to overthrow the outdated medical system and institute reforms. The setting creates complicated relationships between the characters, where each of them aim to enforce their will on the Japanese medical system while gaining political power.

The characters in Team Medical Dragon each have their own ideology for how the medical system should be run, and the philosophy of the series develops as the story goes on. Katou is a reformist who wants to shift Meishin's hierarchy so that each category of medicine can focus primarily on their work instead of kissing the asses of their superiors. Noguchi believes the current system to be the strongest, prioritizing the reputation of the hospital over the quality of care. Each of the antagonists has a developed view on how the hospital should treat its doctors and patients, and those ideas continue to clash over and over as Katou gets closer to her goal of reform.

I highly recommend this series. It's a strong take on the Japanese healthcare system that draws you in with personal drama and compelling characters, and leaves you more satisfied and informed about the world than before.