CHEST Collaborates With Chinese Physicians to Advance Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
With the goal of advancing our educational mission and our profession, CHEST continues to expand its collaboration with Chinese leaders in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in a variety of venues.
In July 2015, faculty representing CHEST and the Chinese Thoracic Society worked together to conduct the First Sino-American Respiratory Forum, a 2-day program in Beijing that focused on clinical features and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sharing knowledge and experience among Chinese and CHEST faculty. We plan for this to be an annual event with a different general topic each year.
L-R: Chen Wang, MD, PhD, FCCP, and Darcy D. Marciniuk, MD, FCCP; Cochairs of the PCCM Steering Committee and CHEST World Congress 2016.
Our work to introduce pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) as a new subspecialty in China is moving ahead; the first step is to establish fellowship training programs that use a common curriculum across 12 academic sites in China. In collaboration with our Chinese colleagues, eight programs based in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Chengdu, and Guangzhou have been activated, with four more joining in the coming year. Each of the eight active sites were visited over the last year by members of the CHEST PCCM Steering Committee, chaired by Darcy D. Marciniuk, MD, FCCP, a Past President of CHEST. These visits are intended to observe the programs in action, to monitor progress with implementation, and to offer feedback on how to continue to improve the quality of training. We anticipate visiting the sites annually as part of a continuing evaluation process, offering interim assessments with audit of adherence to program requirements and fellows’ knowledge. We look forward to the first “graduating class” in the fall of 2017.
Finally, plans are proceeding rapidly for CHEST World Congress 2016, April 15-17, in Shanghai. With the support of the Chinese Thoracic Society, this will be another outstanding CHEST educational experience for the global professional community. Cochaired by Dr. Marciniuk and Chen Wang, MD, PhD, FCCP, President of the Chinese Thoracic Society, the program has been developed by an international committee, designed to fulfill the goal of delivering practical clinical education in formats that include plenary sessions by global experts, panel discussions, interactive case-based sessions, and hands-on simulation activities.
We look forward to keeping you informed of our progress, and hope you will join us in Shanghai in April 2016.