Dear friends and colleagues,
It is my great honor and pleasure to invite you to attend the 9th Annual Meeting of the Digestive Endoscopy Society of Taiwan (DEST 2023), which will take place at the convention center in Taipei Veterans General Hospital for 2 days, from July 29 (Saturday) to July 30 (Sunday), 2023.
As we gradually recover from the pandemic of COVID-19 in the last 3 years, the coming DEST 2023 Congress is due to go ahead as a full face to face conference. For the first time after COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to have the international community come to Taiwan for DEST 2023 and share their experiences in person.
In the past decades, we have witnessed significant advances in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Initially, flexible endoscopy was utilized as a diagnostic tool. With newly developed technologies, the flexible endoscope is now used for therapeutic maneuvers and some procedures have replaced conventional surgical approaches, such as endoscopic metabolic surgery and third space endoscopy. Nevertheless, we should focus on the fundamentals in all aspects of endoscopy services, no matter in the diagnostic or advanced therapeutic endoscopy.
Under the theme of “Think Fundamentals.”, the 8 DEST working groups and organizing committee in DEST 2023 have arranged series of state-of-the-art lectures by local and internationally renowned experts to address the following important topics:
- Advances in endoscopic management of GI neoplasm
- Precision management of T1 CRC
- FMT: where are we going?
- Evidence-based knowledge in the role of endoscopy for bariatric therapy
- Updates from Taiwan CRC screening program
- Endotherapy for difficult strictures
- Endoluminal intervention for motility disorder: an update
- Endoscopy for IBD
- Cutting edge of interventional EUS
- The development of AI in GI endoscopy
- Small intestinal tumors
- Recent advancement in interventional ERCP and EUS
- Endoscopic practice in primary care
On July 29, a whole-day live demonstration course will be broadcasted from Taipei Veteran General Hospital and Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital. Endoscopy experts throughout Taiwan will show us the cutting-edge procedural techniques with emphasis on the safety, effectiveness, and the management of the potential procedure-related adverse events during the demonstration.
Endoscopy nurses/technicians are important partners in every endoscopists' daily practice. In the previous DEST annual meetings, no formal courses were available for our nurses and technicians. To encourage better engagement, we have arranged a symposium regarding infection control of endoscopy, EUS, and enteroscopy for our fellow nurses and technicians in DEST 2023.
I strongly believe the program of DEST 2023 is inspiring, educational, and enjoyable for our members, trainees, and endoscopy nurses and technicians. I look forward to welcoming all of you in DEST 2023.
