KUWAIT: (Left to right) Dr Basel Al Sabah, Dr Ziad Al Alyan, Dr Salman Al Sabah, Health Minister Dr Jamal Al-Harbi and Dr Adel Al Tawheed pose for a group photo during a conference held by Kuwait Association of Surgeons and the Kuwait Chapter of the American College of Surgeons at the Jumeirah Messillah Hotel yesterday.

KUWAIT: The Kuwait Association of Surgeons and the Kuwait Chapter of the American College of Surgeons held the first Kuwait Association of Surgeons conference from September 28th 2017 - 1st October 2017 at the Jumeirah Messillah Hotel under the patronage of HE Dr Jamal Al-Harbi. The theme of the conference is Education and Innovation in Surgery.

The international faculty included the presidents, past and present and the leadership of the American College of Surgeons as well as many reputable professionals. The conference included many scientific lectures and workshops with delegates representing countries from North America to Japan, in addition to a selection of Arab and Kuwaiti lecturers who have a long history in this field.

The main aims of the conference were to learn about the latest developments in the scientific methodology for investigating new surgeries and medical devices from internationally renowned surgical researchers discussing innovation and evaluation in multiple clinical areas, present research on innovations in surgery and therapeutic technology to an international audience of clinicians, scientists, manufacturers and regulators and learn about pathways for innovation in medicine and perspectives on regulation and reimbursement.

Dr Salman Al-Sabah, conference president and a member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons stated that "Through the establishment of the Kuwait Association of Surgeons and the Kuwait chapter of the ACS, we hope to achieve an increase in the overall quality of medical services in Kuwait. We will do this with the creation of educational opportunities for surgeons and the promotion of the exchange of knowledge and development of skills between surgeons locally, regionally and internationally as well as through meetings like this, workshops and the publication of national surgical journals and periodicals."

The conference also included workshops. The "I have an idea, now what?" featured many local innovators and inventors. It outlined the process of innovation to take an idea from concept to creation. It discussed the process of developing, protecting, funding and commercializing innovations and inventions in surgery. The "so you want to be a surgeon..." workshop was aimed at residents and medical students included topics relating to what it takes to be a surgeon, residency programs, fellowships, transition into private practice, academia and more.

The "Stop the Bleed" provided a hands-on training opportunity targeting multiple approaches with stations centered on the theme "Stop the Bleed". In addition to plenary lectures, participants were able to interactively participate and learn experientially at the many stations through the use of simulation of real-life scenarios, including stress inoculation with managing bleeding simulations.

One of the main highlights of the conference was the launch of the national campaign "Stop the Bleed." The campaign is a joint national endeavor between the Kuwait Association of Surgeons, the Kuwait Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and the Ministry of Health. The campaign aims to educate and train the public, healthcare professionals and government agencies to improve accident outcomes by learning to manage bleeding in accidental situations.