Message from the President
It is my great honor to host the 47th Annual Meeting (the “Meeting”) of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine (JSICM) at both NAGOYA CONGRESS CENTER and ANA CROWNE PLAZA Hotel Grand Court NAGOYA from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8, 2020. The theme of the Meeting will be “Science for critical care in the future.”
I took an interest in intensive care medicine during my school days. I have placed my focus on that field and have continued to practice it consistently since graduating from medical school. I have learned numerous things through the past annual meetings of JSICM, which have also helped cultivate my knowledge. As a doctor and researcher, I have dedicated my life to intensive care and intensive care medicine. I am overwhelmed with emotions over my appointment as President of the Meeting. I am currently making every possible effort to organize the Meeting with the cooperation of various stakeholders, including the program committee.
JSICM has been promoting various innovations in recent years. As part of those initiatives, we have established the “Committee on the Future of Annual Meetings” to pursue reforms to the meetings, which are the main pillar of JSICM. As Chairman of the committee, I am promoting the planning and execution of the Meeting as one of the achievements of the committee. The joint planning structure involving the program committee and President is one of the outcomes of the innovations.
With the progress in intensive care medicine, short-term prognosis has improved remarkably in recent years. However, it has become clear that many survivors of serious conditions have been facing difficulties in rehabilitation. In light of such circumstances, we have founded the “Committee of Intensive Care and Early Rehabilitation” and the “Exploratory Committee for PICS Measures and Improvement of Quality of Life,” which have begun their operations. These activities are actually my lifework. I have also incorporated my thinking that “future intensive care must target rehabilitation after lifesaving measures” into the theme of this Meeting. Furthermore, I have contributed to the drafting of a number of practice guidelines, including for sepsis, in the past years. I feel that there are many existing issues with conventional RCTs that make it a challenge to generate true evidence, especially in the field of intensive care.
Recently, there have been developments in research and statistical measures to classify syndromes that are not a homogeneous disease, such as ARDS and sepsis, into subphenotypes to make a profitable use of precision medicine. In this regard, we are planning to have discussions by clinicians, researchers, and statisticians from Western countries and Japan at the Meeting.
In what is a new endeavor, we have made final decisions on planning sessions titled “Seminar for Easy Understanding,” “Expert Seminar,” “Literature Review,” and “Pros & Cons” based on the answers to a questionnaire by members of JSICM. The contents of these sessions will be summarized in text, which will be distributed free of charge to pre-registered attendees. We are also planning a number of participatory sessions using Twitter and the Answer Pads. Moreover, we will invite many lecturers, including “big names” from overseas. Let me convey that they are like a “dream team.” The Meeting will offer you the greatest opportunity to attend lectures and discussions by global opinion leaders in Japan.
This time, we have called for abstracts for as many programs as possible, a decision which stemmed from my own background. I was once an unknown doctor at a city hospital. However, a big opportunity presented itself when my abstract was selected for presentation at one of the special sessions in a past meeting, which has brought me to where I am today. Please review our programs, and apply unhesitatingly for not only the general sessions, but also the symposiums and other sessions.
We will hold the Joint Scientific Congress of the JSICM and Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine (KSCCM) in conjunction with the Meeting. This will be its 20th anniversary event. As mentioned already, we expect to welcome a number of overseas speakers. Even as the momentum for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 is increasing, I am very much looking forward to meeting everyone in the land of Nagoya, Japan.
July 2019
Osamu Nishida
President of the 47th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine