The First World Congress for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent

As one has discovered, the plastic surgeons of Chinese descent have made magnificent contributions to the science and art of plastic surgery through their intelligence, creativity and tireless efforts. Those contributions have been primarily in microsurgery, tissue engineering and many other areas of plastic surgery research and most recently from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan as a single medical centre, which has been considered a powerhouse in plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons of Chinese descent have received much recognition from the scientific community of plastic surgery for the leadership positions in international plastic surgery societies, members of editorial board for all major plastic surgery journals, prestigious lectureships invited by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and others.

Because of the rich Chinese history, culture and strong heritage, Chinese descents in general have felt that they are somehow connected with each other through those common grounds. This kind of connection has subsided due to different geographic locations or perhaps due to different political views for the past issues related to the Chinese and Chinese descents. At the present time, it becomes quite obvious that plastic surgeons of Chinese descent should get together to showcase their contributions and achievements to plastic surgery with pride of the culture and heritage and also to exchange scientific knowledge and promote friendship and ties among this unique group of talented plastic surgeons.

After nearly 2 years of preparation, with tremendous efforts by many plastic surgeons of Chinese descent from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, America and other parts of the world, the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing decided to host this inaugural world congress in conjunction with the celebration of its 50th anniversary. Under the visionary leadership of Professor Yilin Cao, the dean of the Plastic Surgery Hospital and the president of the Chinese Society of Plastic Surgeons, both scientific committee and organisation committees have worked tirelessly to make such a historical meeting possible (Figure 1).

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Figure 1 The officers and committee members of the Congress.

In the beautiful fall season, with a very cheerful post-Olympic spirit in Beijing, the First World Congress for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent was held at Beijing's Jiuhua Resort & Convention Center in Beijing, China, between October 10 and 12, 2008. Professor Yilin Cao served as the chairman, Professor Fu-Chan Wei served as the co-chairman and Professor Ti-Sheng Chang served as the honorary chairman of the congress. The meeting itself attracted more than 700 participants, and many talented plastic surgeons of Chinese descent from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Japan, Australia, France, Canada, the United States and other parts of the world attended this inaugural congress. Professor Lee L.Q. Pu from the University of California, Davis, USA, with active collaboration of his co-chair, Professor Lan Mu from the Plastic Surgery Hospital, put together an excellent scientific programme with eight keynote presentations, 60 guest speaker presentations, 120 free paper oral presentations and more than 200 poster presentations (Figure 2A and B)

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Figure 2 A and 2B. The keynote and guest speakers of the Congress from each country or region.

During the open ceremony (Figure 3), the chairman, Professor Yilin Cao, the co-chairman, Professor Fu-Chan Wei, and the honorary chairman, Professor Ti-Sheng Chang, welcomed all the meeting participants. The scientific chairman, Professor Pu, briefly introduced the preparation and goals of the First World Congress, followed by brilliant keynote presentations during the first morning of the congress. Professor Yilin Cao made a remarkable presentation on tissue engineering research and the clinical application by his team. Of note is that much of their works from China are ahead of the Western world in this particular field. Professor Ti-Sheng Chang, a true legend of the modern plastic surgery in China, described his 40-year personal journey in plastic surgery including almost all the major areas. Professor Fu-Chen Wei presented a most inspiring lecture on how to pursue excellence in plastic surgery. His speech included many of the examples experienced by him and his team, and his presentation had a profound impact on the younger-generation plastic surgeons of Chinese descent. Professor Davis T.W. Chiu summarised the contributions made by the plastic surgeons of Chinese descent to the field. Although putting all the information together would have been a difficult task, he was able to truthfully show to the audiences many examples of contributions by plastic surgeons of Chinese descent. Professor Yu-Ray Chen presented his incredibly successful experience in both reconstructive and cosmetic surgeries. Professor James Chang from the Stanford University made a presentation on ‘New trends in academic plastic surgery in the United States’. He proposed his vision to collaborate with all plastic surgeons of Chinese descent across the Pacific Ocean. Professor Shuzhong Guo summarised the experiences of the human facial allotransplantation, just the second in the world, made by his team with a 2-year follow-up. Lastly, Dr. David C.C. Chuang presented his innovations for brachial plexus and facial paralysis reconstructions with excellent results.

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Figure 3 Just before the opening ceremony of the congress: (From left to right) Professor Lee L.Q. Pu (USA), Professor Ti-Sheng Chang (China), Professor Yilin Cao (China), Professor Fu-Chan Wei (Chinese Taipei), and Professor David T. W. Chiu (USA).

Two full days of scientific programmes were marked by a total of 14 sessions of guest-speaker presentations. These presentations included head and neck reconstruction, craniofacial surgery, cleft lip and palate surgery, translational research and post-graduate education, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery of the breast, cosmetic surgery, paediatric plastic surgery and other reconstructions, covering almost the entire spectrum of plastic surgery. There were often very good discussions after each session. Many members of the audience had the opportunity to know each guest speaker and discuss their specific questions with them. In addition, many guest speakers were quite eager to share their experience. The enthusiasm of both speakers and the audience was very encouraging. On the concluding day of the meeting, there was a special session on lasers in cosmetic medicine and surgery. There were also a total of four sections of free paper presentation in craniofacial surgery, flap reconstruction, plastic surgery of the breast and cosmetic surgery. Because of the nature of the World Congress, the ‘PowerPoint’ presentations were in English; however, the speakers could choose to present their work in either Chinese or English.

The social programme of the congress was also extravagant. The pre-meeting reception was filled with live music for all invited speakers. Many of the invited speakers from America had a 1-day pre-conference tour of Beijing organised by our local host. The first day of the congress concluded with a banquet held in connection with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Plastic Surgery Hospital. All meeting participants enjoyed not only good food, but also live entertainment by the health-care providers from the Plastic Surgery Hospital. On the penultimate day, many invited speakers went on a Beijing tour to enjoy the night view of this historic but modern city. On the last day, many guest speakers went on a tour of the Great Wall to experience the rich Chinese culture and heritage (Figure 4). The congress concluded with dinner in the world-famous Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing.

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Figure 4 Many plastic surgeons of Chinese descent toured the Great Wall during the congress: (from left to right) Dr. James J. Chao (USA), Dr. David T.W. Chiu (USA), Dr. Lee L.Q. Pu (USA), Dr. Fu-Chan Wei (Chinese Taipei), Dr. Gordon K. Lee (USA), Dr. Hung-Chi Chen (Chinese Taipei), and Dr. Michael S. Wong (USA).

On the concluding day of the congress, a special meeting was held and moderated by Professor Yilin Cao and Professor Lee L. Q. Pu to primarily discuss the future meetings as well as a possibility to form the World Society for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese descent. All invited delegates who attended this special meeting agreed that the inaugural world congress was a great success and that bi-annual meetings in the future should be held. After a brief discussion among the delegates from each region, it was decided that the 2010 meeting would be held in Taipei and chaired by Professor Fu-Chen Wei, and the 2012 meeting would be held in Xian, China, and chaired by Professor Shuzhong Guo. Professor David T.W. Chiu was nominated to chair the organisation committee with a total of 11 committee members representing each country or region (Figure 5). During this special meeting, the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery (JPRAS) was identified to be the society's possible official journal. Several of our members in the committee would work with the editor of JPRAS, Professor Andrew Burd, to discuss details for such an affiliation.

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Figure 5 Invited delegates (first row from left to right, Drs. Mu Lan, Lee L.Q. Pu, Fu-Chan Wei, Yilin Cao, David T.W. Chiu, Yu-Ray Chen, Shuzhong Guo; second row from left to right, Drs. Lai-Kun Lam, Weiguo Hu, Chiu-Ming Ho, Michael Leung, David C.C. Chuang, Woffles T.L. Wu, James Chang, Meng In Chan, Jiangning Li) representing Mainland China, Taiwan, the United States, Hong Kong, Macao, Australia, Singapore and France attended the special meeting during the congress.

The First World Congress for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent indeed was a great success. It was the largest gathering for plastic surgeons of Chinese descent for the first time in the history. The scientific programme of the meeting has been considered to be the best so far in the recent history of plastic surgery in Mainland China by many Chinese plastic surgeons. Such a world congress itself would definitely promote plastic surgeons of Chinese descents not only to gain more recognition by the international plastic surgery community but also to make more contributions to plastic surgery through global collaborations. We all look forward to the Second World Congress for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent in Taipei in 2010.