Greetings to all!

 

On behalf of the Officers and the Board of Directors of the Philippine Association of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgeons (PALES), I am delighted to welcome all of you to the PALES 12th Annual Convention for the year 2022.

 

Our theme for this year is  “The PANDEMIC Aftermath.” The word “PANDEMIC” was coined to mean Pursuing A New Dimension of Education in Minimally Invasive Concepts. This unique and creative theme is very  much appropriate to our current setting after we have gone through the most challenging period in our lives as surgeons helping our colleagues and our patients deal with the devastating effects of this horrible virus and yet decide to commit ourselves to continue to focus on continuing surgical education to improve ourselves that will benefit the patients in our own respective communities.

 

We have prepared for everyone a wide spectrum of relevant topics ranging from various pre-congress hands-on workshops, to the most current evidenced-based treatment options in the various fields of laparoscopy and endoscopy, to the strategies in the fine-tuning of one’s laparoscopic  skills through the rejuvenated PALES Olympics and PALES Open, to the development of one’s surgical leadership skills and to the promotion of continued MIS education and training for our nurses through the collaboration with the peri-Operative Nurses of the Philippines (ORNAP). All of these geared towards ensuring quality of surgical care and patient safety. 

 

This year, we have embarked in trying to bring back a semblance of normalcy in our lives by having this annual’s convention in a Hybrid Format in compliance with the national health safety protocols and guidelines which will be strictly implemented to help further mitigate the risks. We are also featuring our invited friends in the field of minimally invasive surgery coming from the various international and national surgical communities to share with us once again their valuable knowledge and experience. If there is one thing that we have realized, it is that the  virtual online platform is an effective tool  in surgical education because it is far more wide-reaching like  no other. However at the same time,  we have also realized and re-affirmed to ourselves, that there is truly no substitute for the human face-to-face interaction which serves as the core basis for establishing and developing more personal human relationships that truly sustains the essence of our existence. Hence we invite you to join us this year in a more intimate interaction  . . . something that we have missed in the last two years.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt appreciation to all the members of hard-working organizing committee, headed by our Vice President, Dr. Raymond Andrew Ong, for coming up with an excellent program for this year. Congratulations to you all!

 

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a genuinely enjoyable  interactive educational convention. Let us always remember to continue to support the activities and advocacies of PALES and go out of our way and embrace the culture of the  need to do more . . .  as a PALES way of life. Mabuhay ang PALES!

 

See you soon and maraming salamat po.