ESCP 2017 got off to a great start yesterday with highlights including the International Trials Forum which included fascinating results from six different trials across Europe.
We also had our first keynotes on Management of Early Colorectal Cancer which you can read more about in our interview with Helmut Messman.
Later in the day Julio Mayol and Richard Brady led the brilliant session on Coloproctology 3.0 The Cutting Edge of Online Innovation. Read more about Julio Mayol’s thoughts on the future of technology in surgery here.
In the International Trials Forum we heard about results from the FIAT trial in the UK, LIRIC from The Netherlands and GRECCAR6 from France. It was also the first presentation of the results from the 2017 ESCP Cohort Study which involved 335 centres in 49 countries. You can read more about the conclusions from each trial here.
Following this we had the first keynote speech on management of early colorectal cancer delivered not by a surgeon but by a gasteroenterologist, Helmut Messmann of Germany. Helmut Messmann is a specialist in ESD and a strong advocate for more European surgeons learning to use this technique. Prof. Messmann discussed the benefits for patients of ESD, particularly the ability to remove of tumours in one single piece to reduce the risk of recurrence in colon cancer.
The day closed with a fascinating panel delivered by Richard Brady and Julio Mayol which looked at the possible applications of technology to change the future of coloproctology. Coloproctology 3.0 began with Julio Mayol who interrogated the idea of Artificial Intelligence in coloproctology online. He was followed by Marlies Schijven of The Netherlands who championed serious games and simulation in surgery to educate Generation Y effectively, disbanding traditional learning methods.
Angus Watson of Scotland argued that through increased use of medical apps, we can put power back in patients’ hands to give them increased control over their health data and unique access to medical resources and clinicians.
The session was rounded off with interesting takes from Rodrigo Menchaca of Spain and Shafi Ahmed of the UK who asked “why train one or two surgeons when you can train thousands?” referring to the international reach of platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat and using Google glasses to help students learn.
An exciting start to the first day.