Team from Shanghai's Huashan Hospital Complete Training at Min-Sheng General Hospital

A team from Huashan Hospital, a hospital affiliated with the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai, China, has completed a week-long training at Min-Sheng General Hospital’s Bariatric and Metabolic Surgical Center.

 

 

The team composed of nurses and dieticians involved in the care of bariatric patients in their hospital came to learn about the functioning of a large and structured center. The participants got to watch and participate in the various stages of weight loss and metabolic patients care. The training program also included lectures on nutrition, sensitivity training, and program management.

The Bariatric Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital has gained a strong international reputation and attracts professionals from across Asia eager to learn from its experience. The Center offers a complete range of training programs, from observational visits to full clinical fellowships.

Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center in Live-Surgery Transmission with Dubai

The GOSS (Gulf Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society) 2015 Conference featured a pre-congress live-surgery workshop. It was an opportunity for the attendees to observe renowned international specialists perform more advanced bariatric and metabolic surgeries, while showcasing the latest techniques and advances in the field.

 

 

The organizers had requested Min-Sheng General Hospital participates in the event with a two-hour live-transmission from its Bariatric Center in Taiwan. Professor Wei-Jei Lee and his team performed a Resectional RY with Limb Extension, a type of revisional laparoscopic metabolic surgery. The surgeons were answering questions from the audience while performing surgery.

 

Japanese Surgeon Completes Fellowship in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Min-Sheng General Hospital.

Dr. Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi from the Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital in Otsu, Japan has completed a one-month mini-fellowship in laparoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Min-Sheng General Hospital. Dr. Yamaguchi, who is an assistant Professor of surgery at Shiga University of Medical Science, chose to come to Min-Sheng’s Asia-Pacific Endoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgical center because its international fellowship program offers a unique opportunity to learn in a high-volume metabolic and bariatric surgical center, under Professor Lee Wei-Jei, a well known academic and specialist in the field.

Dr. Yamaguchi leaves extremely satisfied with the training that he received and claims that the amount of experience he gained over the past few weeks went beyond his wildest expectations. Since bariatric surgery in Japan isn’t yet as popular nor developed as in Taiwan, Dr. Yamaguchi got to develop his skills in a broad range of bariatric surgical techniques and was involved in more bariatric surgeries in a month at Min-Sheng than in years in Japan. Dr. Yamaguchi was very impressed with the level of skills of the surgeons at Min-Sheng, a mastery that stems from the high number of cases that are treated at the Center every week.

 

Dr. Yamaguchi was also full of praise for the professional way the fellowship program is organized, from the time of application until the end.

 

Min-Sheng Contributes to Conference on Evidence-based Healthcare

 

Min-Sheng General Hospital has long been an advocate of evidence-based health care and doesn't miss an occasion to promote it. Min-Sheng was therefore involved in the third conference organized by the International Society for Evidence-Based Health Care that took place in Taipei last week.

Bariatric Team from Hong Kong Comes to Min-Sheng General Hospital for Training

A team from the Prince of Wales Hospital, a hospital affiliated with the Chinese University of Hong Kong has arrived at Min-Sheng General Hospital for an observational training visit of the Bariatric and Metabolic Surgical Center.

 

 

 

The team composed of a surgeon, the program coordinator, and a nurse dealing with bariatric patients came to learn about the functioning of a large and structured center. While the surgeon was able to observe bariatric surgical procedures seldom performed in Hong Kong, the other participants got to watch and participate in the various stages of weight loss and metabolic patients care. The training program also included lectures on nutrition, sensitivity training, and program management.

The Bariatric Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital has gained a strong international reputation and attracts professionals from across Asia eager to learn from its experience. The Center offers a complete range of training programs, from observational visits to full clinical fellowships.

Group of Japanese Healthcare Management Consultants Visit Min-Sheng General Hospital

A delegation from the Hyogo-Kansai Region of the Japan Association of Healthcare Management Consultants (JAHMC) visited Min-Sheng General Hospital on the first leg of a three-day trip to Taiwan to discuss management and staff education practices in large Taiwanese hospital groups.

 

The visitors were particularly interested in patients-flows and inter-service communication issues, the hospital’s initiatives to train and get its staff involved in management, and in the specific services and management systems for receiving foreign patients and medical tourists.

 

 

Min-Sheng General Hospital and HTH Worldwide/GeoBlue enter direct billing agreement

Min-Sheng General Hospital and HTH Worldwide/GeoBlue have entered an agreement that will enable HTH Worldwide/GeoBlue members to enjoy cashless services for emergency treatment and hospitalization in Taiwan. HTH Worldwide/GeoBlue is an American Insurance company that proposes two different insurance plans – HTH Worldwide for university students, and GeoBlue for expatriates and business travelers.  

 
HTH Worldwide/GeoBlue selected Min-Sheng General Hospital as a member of its provider network based on the hospital’s strong reputation dealing with international patients and its strategic location in northern Taiwan. Min-Sheng General Hospital has entered similar agreements with many international insurance companies.  

5th Asian Diabetes Surgery Summit held in Taipei

The 5th ADSS (Asian Diabetes Surgery Summit) was held in Taipei on Saturday, October 25. The event was organized by The Taiwan Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the Diabetes Association of the Republic of China, and Min-Sheng General Hospital. This year's event was presided by Professor LeeWei-Jei and featured a couple of eminent specialits from the USA who shared their experience with surgeons from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

 

 

 

At the first ADSS in 2010 the participants launched an Asian initiative to study the effects of metabolic surgery on diabetic patients. The participating centers have since enrolled and followed about 2,000 metabolic patients from six Asian countries and territories who underwent surgery, enabling them to compile a valuable database to be used for research on the subject.

 

Min-Sheng General Hospital Presents its 2014 Outstanding International Fellow Award to Fellow from Kuwait

The bariatric center at Min-Sheng General Hospital is a leading center for weight loss and metabolic surgery in Taiwan. Professor Lee Wei-Jei and his team have performed more than 5,000 such surgeries, and offer a full range of the latest procedures. The Center’s reputation outside of Taiwan is now such that patients from abroad who want to undergo surgery travel to Min-Sheng. The Center also attracts foreign specialists keen to learn the latest techniques with Prof Lee, and doctors from Japan, Korea, the USA, Indonesia and Mongolia have come to observe Professor Lee and his team. To meet the demand for longer training courses, the Center decided to offer a choice of fellowships ranging from mini-fellowships lasting from one to six months, to one-year full clinical fellowships. After their credentials were reviewed by the Taiwan DOH, the first fellows Singapore and Malaysia were enrolled in the program in early 2013. At the end of 2013, Dr. Abdullah Almulaifi from Kuwait became the first international doctor to be enrolled in our full clinical fellowship program.

 

 

Before applying at Min-Sheng, Dr. Almulaifi had extensively researched fellowship programs across the world. He had enquired at, and visited institutions that also propose such fellowships in France, the UK, the USA, and Korea. He visited the Bariatric Center at Min-Sheng for one week in July 2013, and after meeting with  Professor Lee, the program director, and the other people involved with the program, he decided to apply for a one year clinical fellowship in Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery. He chose to come to Taiwan because he thought that Min-Sheng’s program was the only one that could offer him a comprehensive hands-on training in the field of bariatric and metabolic surgery. He was very impressed by the number and variety of surgeries performed at the Center, and by the level of scientific research the center is involved with.

 

 

 

Dr. Almulaifi has been an outstanding fellow who dedicated a lot of time to improve his skills and learn new techniques. In a region where surgeons only perform one type of weight loss surgery (sleeve gastrectony), Dr. Almulaifi will now stand out as the only doctor experienced in all techniques of bariatric and metabolic surgery and able to tackle even the most complicated cases. Dr. Almulaifi also contributed to many scientific papers published in International Journals and presented the results of the team’s research at international conferences. Among his most significant achievements are a paper that he co-wrote with Professor Lee that was published in the prestigious SOARD Journal, the official journal of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and a keynote address at the 2014 IFSO Conference in Montreal, Canada, for a paper that was chosen out of 900 papers.

 

5,000 cases! A new milestone for Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center

 The Asia-Pacific Endoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgical Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital reached a new milestone in September when Professor Wei-Jei Lee and his team performed their 5,000^th weight loss surgery. The Center, the largest of its kind in Taiwan and one of the leading centers in Asia, now treats on average 400 to 500 patients a year and offers a complete range of procedures for the treatment of obesity and the metabolic diseases often associated to it.

 

 

Since 2012, the Bariatric Center has been operating two distinct units for weight loss and diabetic patients. The team is made of surgeons, endocrinologists, cases managers, bariatric nurses, and dieticians. The Center’s reputation outside of Taiwan is now such that patients from abroad who want to undergo surgery travel to Min-Sheng. The Center also attracts foreign specialists keen to learn the latest techniques with Professor Lee and his team.

Min-Sheng hosts 4th Cross-Straits Symposium on Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

Min-Sheng General Hospital hosted the 4th Cross-Straits Symposium on Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery on November 24, 2014. The meeting was chaired by Professor Lee Wei-Jei and brought together leading specialists in the field of bariatric and metabolic surgery from Taiwan, Hong-Kong, and China, who discussed the latest techniques and shared their experience.

 

Although China only recently embraced bariatric surgery, it is now only second to India in Asia (ex-Middle East) for the number of procedures performed each year. After doubling every year, the number of surgeries performed in China now seems to be reaching a plateau at 5,000 procedures in 2014. As a comparison, although the population of Taiwan represents less than 2 percent of the population of China, just over 2,000 bariatric and metabolic surgeries will have been performed in Taiwan this year (around 500 at Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center only).  

Min-Sheng's Bariatric Center shares experience at APMBSS 2014

Min-sheng General Hospital sent a large delegation to APMBSS 2014 conference. The Asia-Pacific Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Society (APMBSS) regroups the societies from countries in the region which meet every two years to discuss the latest advancements in the care of metabolic and bariatric patients. This year’s event was held in Krabi, Thailand, and also featured prominent specialists from North and South America.

 Min-Sheng’s delegation lead by Pr. Wei-Jei Lee, the Director of the Bariatric Center, was comprised of surgeons, case managers and other members of the Bariatric center who presented their work on various aspects of bariatric and metabolic care.

 

 As a leading center for Metabolic and Bariatric surgery in the Asia, the Bariatric Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital greatly contributes to the advancement of the specialty in the region by training surgeons enrolled in its International Fellowship Program and publishing the results of studies conducted at the Center in international Peer Reviewed Journals.

 

Min-Sheng's Case Manager becomes first Certified Bariatric Nurse outside North America

Miss Chou Ju-Jun, the program coordinator and a case manager at Min-Sheng's Bariatric Center, has become the first nurse outside of North America to receive the Certified Bariatric Nurse (CBN) credentials. The CBN certification is bestowed by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) to nurses specializing in the care of bariatric patients after an examination and assessment of their professional competence. This requires candidates to demonstrate competence in all technical aspects of Bariatric Nursing in accord with the standards established by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery for effective and safe patient care.

Miss Chou joined Min-Sheng General Hospital in 2003 as a Nurse Practioner and became a case manager for the Bariatric Center in 2008. While working for Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center, one of Asia’s leading centers for bariatric and metabolic surgery, Miss Chou has had the opportunity to build on the experience of caring for thousands of patients undergoing the full range of bariatric procedures.

Min-Sheng General Hospital Presents Important Study Findings at SAGES 2014 Meeting

Dr. Abdullah M. Almulaifi travelled to the 2014 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgery (SAGES) Meeting in Salt Lake City, USA, to present the results of an important study conducted at Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center.
 

 

Min-Sheng’s Bariatric Center, lead by Pr. Lee Wei-Jei, has conducted a comparative study of more than 2,000 patients who had undergone by-pass surgery at the Center, and Dr. Almulaifi presented results related to Intractable Marginal Ulcers that sometimes appear after gastric bypass surgery in mordibly obese patients, and can be a significant complication. The scientific committee of the SAGES Meeting were impressed by the quality of the study, and particularly interested in the results regarding “smoking” as a predictor of the development of ulcers. This study is indeed the first one that took into account the number of cigarettes smoked daily by patients, and the findings may lead to changes in the guidelines for post-surgical treatment.

 

Dr. Abdullah M. Almulaifi, from Kuwait, is currently a fellow in Min-Sheng’s Minimally Invasive Bariatric and Colorectal Surgery Fellowship Program. This program, which has clinical and academic components, offers the opportunity for international surgeons with experience in minimally invasive bariatric surgery to greatly improve their skills and assist in hundreds of cases of surgeries covering the entire spectrum of bariatric surgery.

Min-Sheng joins high ranking health care delegation to Dubai

A delegation headed by Health and Welfare Minister Chiu Wen-Ta, and composed of heads of local health governments, officials, and representatives of leading hospitals recently visited the United Arab Emirates. Min-Sheng General Hospital, one of the leaders in Medical Tourism in Taiwan, was represented by the Director of its International Healthcare Center, Dr. Chen Pao-Ren.

A consensus on further medical exchanges was achieved with the Dubai Health Authority and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on medical exchanges and cooperation will be signed when the Dubai delegation makes a return visit to Taiwan. The Dubai Health Authority showed an interest in Taiwan’s medical services, including Chinese medicine, mental health and perinatal care, and the measures taken to prevent obesity-caused diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
 

The Taiwanese delegation also visited the Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC). Dubai is vying to become an international medical tourism hub, and once completed, the DHCC will include four hospitals, 120 large specialized clinics, pharmaceutical and other related industries, as well as world-class hotels. The DHCC project which is already well underway, with many facilities already completed and operational, is a counterpart to Taiwan’s International Health Industrial Park that will be located in the Taoyuan free economic pilot zone, when it finally gets started.

Min-Sheng General Hospital at the cutting edge of medical lab technology

Min-Sheng recently completed the reengineering process that transformed its medical laboratory in one of the most advanced facilities in Taiwan. Fully automated, the system uses barcodes and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) to manage the routing, dispatch, packaging, and storage of all samples.

 

 

 

The system fully integrates the latest information technology and was the first in the country to use the Path Finder 900 Management System that allows for each tested specimen to be traced at any time. By limiting human involvement to a minimum, the system can provide faster results (useful in emergency situations) and significantly reduce the risks of infection error.