PSPC goes to APPCS in Shanghai
PSPC goes to APPCS in Shanghai
The Philippine delegation of nine PSPC members led by President Maria Corazon A. Estevanez attended the 6th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Pediatric Cardiac Society (APPCS) held at the Shanghai International Convention Center, in Shanghai, China last October 20 – 23, 2016. The other delegates were: Dr. Jhuliet Balderas, Dr. Alma Fe Valeria Bascos,Dr. Rowena Gudani, Dr. Jocelyn Mantilla, Dr. Ada Lisette Mercado, Dr. Regente Lapak, , Dr. Suzette Perfecto and Dr. Mercilyn Yap.
About APPCS
The APPCS was organized with the vision “to discuss the vision of an all-inclusive Asia Pacific pediatric cardiac group and meeting and the dream to gather all the caretakers of children with heart disease in a meaningful academic way to help these children and to inspire the next generation of pediatric cardiac physicians and caretakers” (Chang, AC: The Story Behind the First APPCS).
In Dr. Chang’s account, he said that the inaugural Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Society meeting took place in Bangkok, Thailand in 2006 with about 500 attendees. The biennial society meetings took place in Juju Island, Korea (2008), Fukuoka, Japan (2010), and most recently, Taipei, Taiwan (2012). These meetings were all resoundingly successful and provided a special reunion for all the pediatric cardiac caretakers in Asia to gather and renew their professional friendships every two years. The Asia-Pacific Society of Adult Congenital Heart Disease (APSACHD) also joined the main APPCS meeting during the meeting years.
PSPC Plans to Bid for APPCS
The 7th APPCS Congress in 2018 will be held in Indonesia. The bid for the next congress in 2020 is one of the plans set forth by PSPC President Dr. Estevanez during her term.
The 6th APPCS
Review of the scientific program of the 6th APPCS Congress showed the following activities. The first day of the Congress was mainly for registration. On October 21, after the opening ceremonies, sessions included topics on Innovation, Kawasaki Disease, Basic Science, Echo and Image, Rehabilitation and Intervention- intelligent case sharing. On October 22, there were simultaneous sessions on Intervention case demonstration, Pediatric Heart Surgery and hybrid procedures, fetal heart disease (integrated prenatal and postnatal management), echo and imaging, adult congenital heart disease, nursing and rehabilitation. On October 23, sessions included topics on pediatric heart surgery and intensive care, and pediatric arrhythmia.
Personal Experiences
Dr. Jocelyn Mantilla shares her personal experiences when she attended the 6th APPCS Congress:
This was the first time that most of us are attending an international convention. The experience was fun and amazing.
Day 1 (October 20) – Registration was a breeze. The organizing committee was efficient. I guess it pays to have a good website manager, who sees that the delegates are taken cared of. All we had to do was show our confirmation letters and voila! We had our kits ready. That left us enough time to explore the neighborhood. Too bad it was raining, but that didn’t stop the “expedition”. Though time was limited, it was enough. It was difficult to get lost in an area where we do not speak their language.
Day 2 (October 21) – Convention time. And it was indeed on time. Good thing we stayed just within the vicinity. Traffic, we heard, was also bad. Considering the weather and a lot of tourists during this time of the year, it pays to stay in a nearby facility. Topics for the convention ranged from medical, surgical, interventional, rehabilitation management, and imaging modalities. As much as we would have wanted to attend or jump from one topic to the next, we were overwhelmed with the array of topics during the convention. A speaker was only allowed 20-30 minutes for his/her presentation. And the timekeeper was also efficient. No time to get bored. And there was time for coffee and snacks to keep everyone on their feet.
Day 3 (October 22) – This time, we were awed by the topics that were discussed, especially the Fetal Heart Disease and pulmonary hypertension. The topics on the interventional cardiology were also interesting. Good thing the luncheon symposium was all about sharing experiences of interventional cardiology cases. Again, no time to get bored but a lot of time to say, “Aaah” and “Oooh”
Another good thing about this convention was that there was a whole day’s presentation also for the nurses. Indeed, the approach to pediatric cardiology has taken another step forward with our other health counterparts have also been participating.
Day 4 (October23) – The last convention day was all about arrhythmia. The speakers made it sound like arrhythmia was easy. Some of us might feel queasy but the day’s topic on arrhythmia was definitely not. Kudos to the speakers because they did have our attention especially the mapping and ablation in post operative patients. We also had the chance to listen to Dra. Estevanez, who talked about the Rheumatic Fever/Rheumatic Heart Disease perspective in the Philippines. We are not alone with the RF/RHD problem. The advocacy to eradicate RF/RHD was there and that the commitment of the health-care providers was there.
The rest of the stay was spent on some R and R. I personally believe we all deserved it. Till our next convention.
The PSPC members with Dr. Anthony Chang (USA)
The PSPC members with Dr. Gurleen Sharland (UK)- Fetal Echo Specialist