Society Collaborations

VAS-European Independent Foundation in Angiology/Vascular Medicine, a not-for-profit scientific organization, has been working for 30 years on vascular diseases and their prevention, launching the European view on education, enforcing research, awareness, and promoting initiatives to modify the existing policy on health for vascular disease, with close international collaboration.

VAS final aim is to work for the benefit of patients and population, using scientific competences, collaborative networking for social aims.

FADOI (Federazione delle Associazioni dei Dirigenti Ospedalieri Internisti / Italian Scientific Society of Internal Medicine) was founded in 1995 and is the reference society for healthcare professionals working in Internal Medicine wards in Italian hospitals. FADOI is a federation of 19 regional associations, and its current membership is around 3000. The society promotes the development of medical and scientific knowledge through clinical research projects, training activities, and healthcare educational initiatives in the different domains of Internal Medicine. These activities are developed through two institutional departments (the Clinical Research Department and the Training and Education Department); a number of working teams focused on specific areas of interest for Internal Medicine; and the FADOI Study Center, a professional organization with its own staff and a team of consultants that is in charge of the implementation and ongoing coordination of the research and training projects of the society.

The interest shown toward new frontiers of diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies is the reason for the joint venture between FADOI and the Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM), which will be the official partner of FADOI as a scientific journal starting from 2022. From this perspective, a number of Special Issues of JCM focused on several hot topics in clinical practice will be developed in coordination with FADOI.

Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology evaluate and treat patients from infancy and childhood through adolescence and young adulthood, giving special consideration to the physical and emotional needs of young women, and providing support in their transition from paediatric care to gynaecologic care.

Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology is an emerging specialty, at the intersection of paediatrics, paediatric endocrinology, gynaecology, paediatric surgery, dermatology, psychiatry, public health medicine and genetics. It thus addresses a wide spectrum of diseases from the newborn period to adolescence. The gynaecological problems encountered in children and adolescents are often both medically and psychologically complex and thus require a highly skilled and coherent approach. The adolescent, who is no longer a child but not quite an adult, poses a particular management problem to traditional specialties.

The aims of the Hellenic Society of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology are:

• To improve the quality of gynaecologic care to children and adolescents.
• To raise the profile of paediatric and adolescent gynaecology within Greece.
• To encourage and promote research and communication among health professionals who provide gynaecologic care to children and adolescents.
• To interact with patient support groups.
• To encourage relations between the European society of PAG and other appropriate organizations in Europe.
• To share knowledge and experience of PAG with countries outside Europe.

To contact the Hellenic Society of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, please send an email to:

[email protected]

IBRA is an international transdisciplinary network for continuing medical education and research, as well as an independent non-profit organization for specialized surgeons and research scientists in particular.

Their core activities are medical courses on various levels and multinational symposia, scholarship programs, and research projects focusing on:

• Clinical management (traumatology and orthopedic surgery);
• Materials research including hardware development;
• Biomechanics and engineering.

Their emphasis is primarily on:

• Head;
• Upper limbs;
• Lower limbs.

IBRA offers a variety of educational events around the globe, which are headed by a multinational faculty.

Members of IBRA have privileged access to materials and courses in topics related to bone and tissue management and are offered opportunities for their individual career development.

The main goal of the IBRA Scholarship Program is to promote individual career development by providing financial support for clinical training and for research. IBRA Training Centers have been selectively chosen for their ability to provide a broad clinical experience in the treatment of patients whilst promoting exemplary research.

IBRA offers financial support for research projects. With an emphasis on innovation and suitability for practical application, the research budget prioritizes applied research and clinical studies.

Italian Resuscitation Council (IRC) is a scientific non-profit organization born in 1994 with the primary purpose of spreading the culture and organization of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Italy.

The association involves physicians from different disciplines and nurses actively engaged in the management of out- and in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The activity of IRC is integrated with that of similar Italian and foreign associations and in particular with the European Resuscitation Council. The IRC network includes more than 5000 doctors and nurses. The IRC network includes adult and pediatric courses with more than 90,000 healthcare professionals trained each year.

IRC pursues the following aims:

• To disseminate guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) throughout the national territory;
• To participate in the process of updating CPR guidelines in national and international contexts;
• To promote quality control activities for resuscitation practices;
• To promote appropriate care and professionals update through annual National Congresses and courses;
• To provide quality assessment of the activities carried out;
• To develop and/or adapt national resuscitation training programs for all potential users, from common citizens to health professionals, in agreement with internationally recognized scientific organizations in order to assure the accreditation of operators and institutions;
• To promote and coordinate research activities;
• To promote and disseminate awareness in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid with the most appropriate tools for all potential rescuers.

Throughout its network of certified course instructors, IRC currently provides the following training courses all over Italy: Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, European Paediatric Advanced Life Support, European Paediatric Immediate Life Support, European Trauma Course, Immediate Life Support, Metal, Newborn Life Support, and Prehospital Trauma Care.

The activities of Italian Resuscitation Council also include projects aimed to involve the general population and students.

Examples include the Viva! campaign, the “Viva!” week of cardiac arrest awareness in Italy, and the international Kids Save Lives campaign.

SIET is the Italian Society of Thoracic Endoscopy, founded in 1980. It was founded as an Italian organization. However, it now has members from all over the European continent. SIET is a dynamic and young scientific society that plays a leading role in endoscopy and minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Our national and international aims are as follows:

1. Promote research and innovation in surgery and thoracic endoscopy;

2. Organize and promote scientific events including the National Congress, every two years;

3. Promote the training of young people through national and international refresher courses in collaboration with universities and scientific societies with similar aims;

4. Become an instrument of information and educational exchange to promote a cohesive and active scientific community.

The concept of team-based medical care was first introduced in Japan in relation to dialysis therapy and open-heart surgery utilizing artificial cardiopulmonary machines, i.e., devices that required technicians for operation and maintenance. Before the introduction of medical certification for technicians, the authority to perform medical treatment was left to the discretion of doctors. However, with the continuous development and increase in the number and types of medical devices, it became essential to have engineers who were medically certified to operate and maintain medical equipment.
Therefore, in 1987, the national certification systems for clinical engineers (CEs) was established to foster and develop human resources that would have expertise in both medicine and engineering. This was followed by the founding of the Japan Association for Clinical Engineers (JACE) in 1990. While it started as a voluntary organization, it was approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare as a public interest incorporated association in 2012. Today, there are approximately 80 universities and vocational colleges that train CEs in Japan, and around 20,000 CEs are employed in hospitals.
 
In Japan, CEs are qualified to conduct and manage the operation and maintenance of life-support systems while under the supervision of physicians. A type of paramedical staff, CEs are involved in the handling of complex medical equipment essential in current medical care, such as artificial cardiopulmonary machines in open-heart surgery; artificial respirators in intensive care; dialysis machines; and other equipment required in general surgery, percutaneous coronary intervention, and endoscopy. The major difference with technicians in other countries is that CEs in Japan are permitted by law to perform certain medical procedures under the supervision of doctors, in addition to maintaining and managing medical equipment.
 
JACE’s mission is “to contribute to the promotion and development of the nation’s medical care and welfare through the raise of professional ethics of CEs, enhancement of their professional knowledge and skills, and improvement of reliability of equipment-based medical care and welfare”. JACE is actively engaging in various activities in pursuit of this goal, alongside other projects related to the establishment of safety measures for the use of medical devices in medical institutions.

Nuclear Medicine Discovery is a non-profit medical association that aims to study, disseminate, and coordinate new research and scientific-teaching activities in the field of imaging techniques applied to oncology, endocrinology, inflammation, infections, cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, hematology, and orthopedics. For more information, please see: www.nuclearmedicinediscovery.org, or write to [email protected].

GÉTICA is a Spanish non-profit association that was established in 2014 by and for clinicians and scientists in basic and/or translational research, who are interested in tumor immunology and immunotherapies for cancer treatment. The overarching aims of GÉTICA are: i) to advance research and development of novel immunotherapies, ii) to promote education of researchers and clinicians in these fields, and iii) to foster public engagement by communicating about the latest developments in cancer immunology and immunotherapy. A further priority is to integrate other scientific societies and cooperative groups with GÉTICA, in order to establish a strong multidisciplinary and collaborative scientific environment that will help us to drive the field of cancer immunology forward and further the development of novel immunotherapies.

The SEHH is a scientific society purposed with the promotion, development and dissemination of research advances in two specialist areas, Hematology and Hemotherapy. In particular, the SEHH focuses on their medical, scientific, organizational, care, teaching and research aspects. Hematology, as a specialty, covers all aspects related to the physiology of the blood and hematopoietic organs, the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the blood, the study of the hemostasis and coagulation system, and all aspects related to transfusion medicine, including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The professional role of the hematologist covers all aspects of the practice.

With 61 years of history, the SEHH is today an organization that contributes significantly to science. At present, it holds a community of almost 2800 professionals, of which many are internationally recognized figures, who continually contribute to making hematology, globally, one of the most prestigious fields of Spanish medicine. The society considers that for optimal patient care, it is essential to have access to medical advances, promote research and have well-trained and highly qualified specialists in the management of hematological diseases.