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.