Professor Dion Morton will be chair the Global Reach session at ESCP Virtually Vilnius 2020. We asked him about the importance of ESCP having a global reach and what delegates can expect this September at #ESCP2020.
Professor Dion Morton is the Barling Chair of Surgery at University of Birmingham and ESCP's Global Reach Committee Co-Chair, along with Professor Simon Ng. He is Director of the NIHR Global Surgery Unit and CMO for the Genomic Medical Service Alliance (WOWM)NIHR.
Why is a global presence important for ESCP?
Because of the huge impact of ESCP and its research, it has a substantial global presence, including close ties in the Far East - particularly with China, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Our Global Reach project has already launched in 70 hospitals across the world. Virtually Vilnius provides us with a great opportunity to update partners on our progress.
How has COVID-19 impacted this?
COVID-19 is further proof, if it were needed, that global collaboration and the sharing of ideas and knowledge is fundamnetal in healthcare. This allows us to develop far-reaching symposia which integrate knowledge from around the world and uses worldwide insights on COVID-19. Our session includes colleagues speaking from Italy to the Far East, so it will be fascinating to hear updates from across the world.
Why should delegates attend the session?
With insights from around the world, those attending will get a unique picture and flavour on how we might start building resilience and protect ourselves in upsurge, not just in Covid-19 but also in future pandemics.
Any surgeon would be interested in listening to how these different speakers will be approaching the challenges ahead.
In the second part of symposium, we’ll hear about different methods of training, and procedure training, as well asl the process of surgical proctoring in South East Asia and Europe. The symposium will then finish with abstracts on clinical research.
How different is it preparing for virtual annual conference?
The Coronavirus pandemic has been a huge challenge to all of society, and ESCP has found its meetings hugely disrupted. However, these challenges can also throw up opportunity and, thanks to the hard work of ESCP’s Executive Committee, we can go ahead with a virtual conference next month, which has the potential to reach beyond its core membership and across the globe on all continents to engage a vast number of surgeons in education and research around colorectal surgery.
Virtually Vilnius will be the first such undertaking but we can use the experience to build more virtual symposia throughout the year and link with colleagues globally regularly at these virtual meetings. ESCP is in a unique position with its global research network and worldwide footprint to take advantage of the technology available for research and communicate findings and results with all partners.
‘Global Reach of ESCP and Related Research’ session at ESCP Virtually Vilnius 2020 will take place between from 14.00 on Tuesday 22 September.