Message from the Chairman of the Organizing Committee Dear Colleagues, On behalf of the Minimally Invasive Centre at the Union Hospital, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to you all for participating in this symposium and workshop. This is the first time that a symposium/workshop of this nature is organized in a private hospital setting. The objective of this meeting is to focus on the technical aspects of minimally invasive surgery, with an emphasis on the practical tips and pitfalls for surgeons and nurses serving in the private as well as public sectors. On a daily basis, private surgeons face different challenges from surgeons working in public hospital. For example, we often need to give the patients our best estimate of hospital charges before admission. We develop our own surgical routine in order to ensure reproducible outcome which also has to be cost-effective. I would like to thank my co-chairman, Dr WT Siu and the Hong Kong Society of Minimal Access Surgery for co-organizing this meeting, and the Department of Surgery of the Chinese University of Hong Kong for their support. We are grateful to our distinguished faculty members and nursing staff at the Operating Room and Minimally Invasive Centre here who have agreed to sacrifice their family day to share with us their experience and expertise. This meeting would not have been possible without the generous support of our major sponsors, Johnson and Johnson (Hong Kong) Ltd. & Karl Storz Endoscopy China Ltd. I trust you will have a pleasant and fruitful day with us. Thank you for being here. Anthony P.C. Yim Chairman of organizing committee Director, Minimally Invasive Centre Union Hospital Message from the Co-chairman of the Organizing Committee Dear Colleagues, It gives me great pleasure to invite you to participate in the first workshop jointly organized by Hong Kong Society of Minimal Access Surgery and the Minimally Invasive Centre of Union Hospital, to be held in Union hospital, 5 of Nov 2006. Minimal access surgery is now an integral part of surgical practice. The Hong Kong Society of Minimal Access Surgery has excelled in the past to offer a wide array of educational activities to local and international participants. The workshop is aimed at practitioners and nurses interested in minimally invasive surgery and provides a superb opportunity to keep abreast on the latest advances in the field. This one-day workshop consists of lectures, live demonstration, video transmission and surgical equipment exhibition. The programme will be clinically orientated and endows with practical tips and tricks of the trade for various disciplines of surgery. We look forward to seeing you there. Dr. Siu Wing Tai Co-chairman of organizing committee President of Hong Kong Society of Minimal Access Surgery