I am Masafumi Inomata from the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery at Oita University. I will be hosting the 19th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery (JSGS) at JDDW 2021 in Kobe in November 2021.
JDDW attracts more than 20,000 participants every year, and it is truly an honor for me to be appointed President of the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery (JSGS), which has a long history and tradition, having celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. With guidance from the JSGS President and members of the Program Committee, I would like to make sincere efforts in the planning and preparations of the annual meeting together with all of the staff members of my department.
As the only surgeon among the five presidents of JDDW 2021 Meetings and Congress, I have reflected this aspect in the planning of the program in three ways as described below.
The first is “teamwork between surgeons and internists.” We will be spotlighting and deepening discussions on the crosstalk between surgeons and internists in areas such as selection of treatment method, minimally invasive treatment, and the division of work in multidisciplinary therapy.
The second is “advanced surgery and education and research in the Reiwa Era.” We hope to share the latest information on robot-assisted surgery, AI navigation, and other advanced medical technology, as well as deepen discussions on new ways to “pass on skills” to the next generation and on new forms of “system of education” and “clinical research” in this coming age of robotics and online communication.
The third is “establishment of standard treatment from a global perspective.” In the International Session and the Strategic International Session, we hope to analyze similarities and differences in treatment strategy together with experts from Asia, Europe, and the U.S. in order to review the standard treatment strategies used in Japan. In addition, we hope that these sessions will serve to help many young practitioners to develop their global outlook.
While fully leveraging the unique features of JDDW in providing cross-disciplinary and interprofessional collaboration programs, such as the Integrated Program of the five societies and the Medical Staff Program, we hope to make this scientific conference a fruitful one that is fit for this new era through discussions that will contribute to overcoming the challenges facing JSGS.
We sincerely look forward to your participation in JDDW 2021 in Kobe.