Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Department of Surgery and the Medical Research Centre recently concluded the 8th Surgical Research and Innovation Ideas symposium.
The symposium is a research ideas workshop for surgeons, anaesthesiologists, perioperative nurses, and allied health professionals. It included two days of presentations on multidisciplinary perioperative care research ideas and a day of one-to-one extensive feedback sessions for the presenting teams.
The Surgical Research and Innovation Ideas series provides a platform for surgical and perioperative research. For the first time, this year the workshop requested submissions in two areas – clinical and technological. The clinical track looked at research proposals for innovative ideas leading to positive clinical outcomes while the technological track looked at technology-based solutions that have the potential to improve surgical care.
The event was attended by clinicians, academics, and researchers from across Qatar. Research ideas were discussed by participants and a panel of international and local researchers and innovation experts. Constructive comments and advice were provided to participants to help them develop the full potential of their
research ideas.
A number of lectures were also delivered on a range of topics, including opportunities for collaborative research and innovations of biomedical applications, research ethics, development of multi-centre clinical trials, and quality-based surgical research at HMC.
Dr Abdulla al-Ansari, acting chief medical officer at HMC, said, “Delivery of the best care is always guided by the latest research breakthroughs as clinical research and treatment are not separate, but symbiotically linked. By integrating clinical care, research, and education in HMC’s journey towards achieving a world-class academic health system, we can build a solid foundation of existing core research facilities and highlight some unique opportunities for Qatar to become a world leader in healthcare delivery by integrating all disciplines in surgery, whether they are clinicians, nurses, allied health or clinical support professionals, to produce a portfolio of high-impact research, development, and innovation outputs leading to high impact patient care.”
Dr Sabah al-Kadhi, medical director, Al Wakra Hospital, reinforced Dr al-Ansari’s sentiments about the importance of surgical research and innovation for both HMC and Qatar.
“This type of research symposium is critical for the growth of academic surgery in Qatar. The breadth of study and the energy of the surgeons presenting is incredible; our job as mentors is to support their growth. The event has become an excellent venue for sharing knowledge and fostering scientific and ethically-strong research initiatives that will benefit effective, evidence-based, and compassionate patient care and contribute to the well-being of Qatar’s population. I was extremely pleased and impressed by the quality of the varied research proposals that were presented at the symposium. It is quite heartening to see HMC make great strides towards evidence-based and innovative research,” said Dr al-Kadhi.
Dr Habibi al-Basti, senior consultant and head of plastic surgery at HMC, highlighted the importance of the symposium in promoting innovation and
research in surgery.
“This symposium, which focuses on innovation and research in surgery, is held consecutively twice a year. It is now in its eighth year and each event is even better than its predecessor. During the symposium, research proposals were discussed by a panel of international and local experts in academia and surgery, which included surgical and academic stakeholders from Qatar, including Qatar University and Sidra Medicine. This year differed from previous years as there was also input into the newly launched technological track of the symposium from industry partners involved in research and innovation. This included discussions on materials, surgical instrumentation, and virtual reality in medicine, which will have a positive impact on the future of surgical education, practice, and safety in Qatar,” said Dr al-Basti.
Dr Amira al-Hail, senior consultant and head of ENT Surgery at Al Wakra Hospital, also highlighted the importance of the symposium, noting that as a Qatari female ENT surgeon, she was pleased to be involved in the symposium.
“This symposium was both rich and fruitful with many innovative ideas being shared. Many congratulations to the HMC surgical organising team for this achievement,” said Dr al-Hail.
Professor David Sigalet, chief clinical services officer at Sidra Medicine, said, “The quality and insight of the ongoing research at the department of surgery at HMC is impressive. This is a true example of the maturation of the healthcare sector in Qatar.”
The symposium concluded with prizes being presented to those teams who had submitted winning research proposals. In the clinical track category, cash prizes were awarded to submitted projects from the orthopaedic surgery and acute care surgery sections. In the technological track category, two projects tied for first place and were submitted from the surgical sections of urology and neuroradiology. (QNA)
