500 physicians gather for first Qatar Internal Medicine Conference

The conference proved extremely popular with an excellent turnout not only from HMC but also Primary Health Centers and private hospitals in Qatar, as well as from other GCC countries, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and the United Kingdom.

"The conference is in line with the vision of HMC for our transformation into an Academic Health System, through the integration of healthcare with education and research," said Dr. Abdel-Naser Elzouki, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Head of HMC's General Internal Medicine Division, which organized the event. "It brings together physicians and experts from different parts of the world and facilitates the exchange of knowledge that will have a beneficial impact on patient care."

"It is a monumental endeavor and an accomplishment in advancing the standard of care for patients in Qatar, the Gulf and beyond. The First Qatar Conference of Internal Medicine offered physicians an intensive and exciting scientific program packed with the latest knowledge in a large number of topics of Internal Medicine," said Dr. Muna Al-Maslamani, President of the Conference and Acting Chairman of Medicine at HMC.

The successful three-day event included plenary lectures, mini-symposia, meet-the-expert sessions, case discussions, a debate session and 11 workshops, as well as a one-day postgraduate course on what clinicians should know about gastroenterology and liver disease in 2013. Topics revolved around the management of infectious diseases, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, liver and gastrointestinal problems, obesity, diabetes, asthma, thyroid disorders, osteoporosis, joint diseases, tuberculosis, kidney diseases, dementia, status epilepticus, and many other conditions.

Participants, through a number of workshops, also had the opportunity to learn from the best experts on how to produce quality research, how to convert their ideas into research and how to get their papers published in high-impact medical journals.

A poster exhibition was held concurrently with the event, where 34 hospital-based case studies were displayed, some of which featured rare conditions among patients at HMC. These case studies were chosen by a scientific committee among 46 submissions, and were being reported for the first time at the conference.

About 12 medical and pharmaceutical companies set up booths featuring the latest medications and medical instruments for the benefit of the participants. The Qatar Diabetes Association also had a booth at the exhibition to distribute educational materials on diabetes.

Dr. Elzouki added that there are plans to hold the event on a yearly basis.