Min-Sheng to Host Two Metabolic Surgery Workshops in March 2015

The Asia-Pacific Endoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgical Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital is organizing two International Surgical Workshops in March 2015. The two four-day workshops will focus on single anastomosis surgical procedures for the management of morbidly obese and diabetic patients. Professor Wei-Jei Lee, an international authority in the fields of bariatric and metabolic surgery, will be directing the workshops.

 

 

During each course, those who attend will scrub for up to eight bariatric and metabolic procedures and attend several hours of didactic conference covering bariatric operative and perioperative management topics.

The first workshop will take place March 9-12, 2015 and focus on the Mini-Gastric Bypass , while the second one will be March 23-26, 2015 and highlight the single anastomosis DJB-SG procedure.

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.

 

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.

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’s Bariatric Center receives Symbol of National Quality Award

The Asia-Pacific Endoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgical Center was awarded the Symbol of National Quality (SNQ) Award in the Hospital category by the Taiwan Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry.

 

The SNQ is awarded for one year after a thorough survey of the program, and rewards institutions that are leaders in their field and enhance Taiwan’s quality image.