The 27th Sino-Luso International Medical Forum took place from the 9th to 11th of October. This forum addresses Macau’s medical education and training titled, “Optimizing Macau’s Graduate Medical Education.”

Dr. Manson Fok, Dean of Faculty of Health Sciences at MUST, and President of the Sino-Luso International Medical Forum, commented, “It is my privilege to welcome you to our medical education and training forum. This forum will bring the best of international learning to Macau and will be developed in close partnership with regional strategic partners from Hong Kong, Greater China, the United Kingdom, USA and Australia.”

Dr. Fok further stated, “Macau is now on the verge of consolidating the medical education and training sectors, we are thrilled and looking forward to exchange of these experiences and innovations at this forum.”

The focus of this forum also covered medical prevocational and post graduate years of training. Dr. Leonie Watterson, the Director of the Sydney Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre and Associate Professor of School of Medicine, University of Sydney, she spoke about the changing environment within health care services internationally. She also discussed how innovations are occurring in how medical education and training are provided in Australia. Further talking points entail the making of medical education and training workforce sustainable.

This exciting three-day event consisted of keynotes, plenaries, excellent workshops and scientific symposium presentations. Many Macau doctors and nurses attended and represented our Macau medical community. This forum provided the opportunities to network with nearly 500 health care professionals and gained new ideas in the medical education arena.

Dr Manson Fok said, “What we are doing will play a role in effecting real changes in health care quality and patient safety issues here in the Macau SAR. The aim is to aid Macau’s frontline medical providers with the best training in order to serve the people of Macau.”

Moreover, special presentations primarily focused on graduate medical training. Experts from Beijing, Dr. Qianzhu Liu and Vice President of British Medical Journal Ms. Yuyan Kong, spoke about their experiences in working with British Medical Association’s BMJ of their digital solutions for healthcare improvement and medical education. Their colleague Ms. Huili Che spoke about ethical and effective medical publications.

Fok added, “Our medical professionals from past events in medical training see beyond walls to the possibilities on the other side. We are happy to see they are inspired and empowered by our undertaking. Ultimately, we need to show our young people in Macau a future in which everyone has the best care and health possible."

Special workshops also featured Dr. Ross Horley, adjunct lecturer at the Notre Dame University in Australia, Dr. Katie Walker, the Director of New York Health and Hospitals Corporation Simulation Program, and Professor Joeri Prost, Director of Simendo Medical in the Netherlands. These high quality workshops were held for both nurses and physicians at the Centre for Excellence at the Faculty of Health Science on the campus of the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).

Macau healthcare professionals will be able to share and learn best practices, meet with experts face to face and build international connections in this exciting event.

Launched in May 2011, the Sino-Luso International Medical Forums have trained over 5,000 local and regional doctors and nurses in robotic heart surgery, mass casualty emergency response, advanced burns treatment, esophageal cancer treatments, endoscopy and laparoscopy, simulation, difficult child-birth, toxicology, medical sonography, among many topics.

The program is chaired by the Faculty of Health Sciences at MUST, the Macau Healthcare Management and Promotion Association, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of the PRC, the 2.6 million member strong Chinese Medical Doctor Association in Beijing, the Health and Human Resource Development Center of the NHFPC, the Macau Dr. Stanley Ho Medical Development Foundation, and the Macau Henry Fok Foundation.