The 3rd ICS educational course in China was held in Beijing during 29-31 October 2009. The course was an add-on to the 4th Beijing International Rehabilitation Forum and National Urodynamic training course, with ICS speakers involved in all of the 2.5 days of meetings and workshops. There was great interest in the course with a total of 200 participants, including 140 Urologists, 30 Gynaecologists and 30 nurses, attending from all over China.
The ICS sent 5 international speakers whose 19 presentations displayed the full multi-disciplinary spectrum and approach of our society. There were 15 Chinese colleagues (10 Urologists, 5 Gynaecologists) who also gave 19 presentations. The presentations covered urodynamics, female urology, male incontinence, neuro-urology, rehabilitation, OAB and pelvic floor dysfunction. Three of the ICS speakers and 70 Chinese colleagues attended the national urodynamic training workshop on the morning of October 31, where there were a lot of interesting discussions.
The ICS guests and local VIPs were invited to visit the new China National Convention Center (CNCC), which will be the venue for the 2012 ICS annual meeting in Beijing, to be chaired by Limin Liao. A wonderful gala dinner was then held in the adjacent hotel.
This was a most successful and economical course, thanks largely to the organisational and financial support of Limin Liao and the China Rehabilitation Research Centre, and the collaboration and help of the ICS. Further courses of this kind are at the planning stage, with the next possibly to be held during the last week of June (World Continence Week) 2010, again in Beijing. We hope to continue to work with our ICS colleagues to organise more courses and to continue the preparations for the 2012 ICS meeting in Beijing.
By Limin Liao and Werner Schaefer