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.

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.

 

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 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.

Malaysian doctor completes fellowship in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Min-Sheng General Hospital.

Dr. Pok Eng-Hong from University of Malaya Medical Center in Malaysia has completed a six-month fellowship in laparoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Min-Sheng General Hospital. Dr. Pok chose to come to Min-Sheng’s Asia-Pacific Endoscopic Metabolic and Bariatric Surgical center because its international fellowship program offers a tremendous 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. Pok leaves very satisfied with the experience and claims that all his objectives for the fellowship were met. Not only was he exposed to, and got to develop his skills in a full range of bariatric surgical techniques, he also was introduced to new techniques like the trans-umbilical-two-sites technique that will have many applications in bariatric surgery. Dr. Pok was very impressed with the level of skills of the surgeons at Min-Sheng, a mastery that derives from the high number of cases that are treated at the Center every week.

 

For Dr. Pok it was also an opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary team for the Bariatric Center at Min-Sheng General Hospital adopts an approach to the treatment and management of obesity that involves surgeons, endocrinologists, psychologists, and dieticians. Moreover, the huge data base maintained at the Center allowed for a unique opportunity to study the long term effects of obesity surgery. As part of the academic component of his fellowship, Dr. Pok produced two papers that are awaiting publication, with two more in the pipeline. 

 

Although he often missed his family who stayed in Malaysia, Dr. Pok found the experience character building, and he is obliged to the wonderful Taiwanese hospitality. Dr. Pok is also full of praise for the way the fellowship program is organized from the time of application until the end.