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The History of Best Young Scientist Award

3rd Winner | Dr. I-Ming Chen

Remarkable Career in Cardiac Surgery

Dr. I-Ming Chen is an attending surgeon at the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, one of the most historical and outstanding hospitals in Taiwan. He has previously served as the chief of Hybrid Operation Room at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and is currently serving as the director of the Taiwan Society of Vascular Surgery since September 2013. Previously, he had worked as a fellow in cardiac surgery at the Berlin Heart Center and in vascular surgery at the Epworth Hospital in Melbourne. He was awarded many prizes during his career including Best Teacher at Taipei Veteran General Hospital in 2011, Winner of the Record Case Presentation contest for the Taiwan Society for Vascular Surgery (TSVS) in 2012 and 2013, and Best Abstract Presenter at TCTAP in 2014.

Interview with Dr. I-Ming Chen

Q1) You have won so many awards for your presentations. Do you have some tips or ideas for making a good presentation?
First of all, I have to thank all the panelists and judges for the award. For every presentation, no matter what kind of contest or whether it is an ordinary speech, I always prepare and ask myself if I meet these three requirements:
1. Is my material good enough?
2. Are my slides good enough to help the audience understand my talk?
3. Am I expressing myself clearly so that the audience can easily know what I want to talk about?
These 3 things are important in daily life and not just for giving a good presentation. Practice makes perfect.

Q2) What makes you devoted to aortic disease?
Treating aortic disease is really challenging work. Actually, there is no so-called standard treatment when treating aortic aneurysm or dissection. Of course, we could treat aortic disease by endovascular stent grafting or by traditional open repair.
But as a surgeon, there is a lot of room for hybrid procedures. The accomplishment of saving lives from aortic pathology really makes me devoted to treating aortic disease.

Q3) How did you spend your fellowship at the Berlin Heart Center in German and the Epworth Hospital in Australia?
In Taiwan, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery are in the same division. So, I have been trained as a cardiovascular surgeon at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
After completing residency training, I first spent my overseas fellowship training in the Berlin Heart Center for advanced cardiac surgery such as ventricular assistant device and heart transplantation. After Germany, I went to the Epworth Hospital, in Melbourne, Australia for clinical fellowship training in vascular surgery. I learned a lot of advanced endovascular skills for aortic stent grafting, PAD intervention, carotid intervention, etc., which helped me a lot when I got back to Taiwan.

Q4) Did you have any mentors that were particularly influential, and if so, in what ways?
Professor Chun-Che Shih is the most the important mentor of mine. He has taught me the basics of endovascular and cardiac surgery since I was a resident. He was also my Ph.D. advisor and taught me in so many ways.

Q5) What is your proudest career moment?
This is my proudest career moment. Indeed, the TCTAP Best Presenter award (2014) is the first overseas award that I won.

Q6) Any advice for young cardiologists or vascular surgeons?
Opportunity favors the prepared mind. Always be devoted and be passionate about the work you like. Let¡¯s make life better.