Invitation Letter from the Chairman

TUA 2020 Annual Meeting in Taipei

Dear Members of the Taiwan Urological Association,

The annual event of the Taiwan Urological Association, the TUA Annual Meeting, will be held at the NTUH International Convention Center from August 21 (Fri) to August 23 (Sun) in 2020 (where Live Robotic Surgery will be held at the Department of Medical Research and Development, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital on August 21 (Fri)).

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that ravaged countries from around the world this year, millions of people were infected and hundreds of thousands of people were dead. Under the joint effort of the government and its people, Taiwan had achieved an outstanding performance in preventing and containing the disease on a global scale, providing people in Taiwan with a great sense of security in their healthcare. Despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic was gradually put under better control in Taiwan, we still follow the instructions from the Central Epidemic Command Center with an apprehensive and careful attitude by taking safety and precautionary measures in the face-to-face meeting. We hereby ask all members of the Taiwan Urological Association to take part in the annual meeting with a peace of mind in Taipei in August of this year. If there were a sudden change in the COVID-19 pandemic, we would be fully prepared and take response measures such as partial video conferencing and many others.

The 2020 TUA Annual Conference will focus on "security, unity, and innovation" to highlight our efforts in pandemic prevention, strong team cohesion, and every TUA member's ambition to pursue innovation and perfection in a harsh environment. In addition to inviting world-famous experts & scholars and many domestic emerging talents to share the latest academic researches, surgical skills, and professional knowledge, TUA 2020 Annual Meeting also offers many interesting and practical agendas such as "Submit Papers for Publication'', "Many A Little Makes A Mickle'', "Multiple Perspectives On Opening A Clinic'', "Discussion About Medical Disputes'', "Hospital and Long-Term Care System'", "CR debate", " Sampling and Review of National Health Insurance", "Guideline Contest", "Medical Laws and Sexual Assaults " and many others. In addition, Audrey Tang, minister without portfolio of the executive yuan will also be invited to explain the application of AI. Old and new members are also advised to keep track of the latest news of TUA so as not to leave out any workshops that receive high rating such as "Functional Urological Surgery", "TUA Collaboration Research", "AI in Medical Imaging Applications" and many others that make the members feel their visits worthwhile. We hereby pay our gratitude in advance for all the hard work and effort from the Department of Urology of National Taiwan University Hospital, the Department of Urology of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and the colleagues of the committees and the secretariat.

Taiwan Urological Association has always been adhering to the concept of improving the quality of membership services. Thanks to the leadership of Secretary-General TSAI, TSUNG-YU and the efforts of the professional team, the "TUA Events App" has been officially launched in the 2017 annual meeting and has won many praises and recognition from the members. Due to the pandemic outbreak this year, the Taiwan Urological Association has further strengthened the application of information technology. Through the use of Line@, Facebook, and TUA official website to interact with members and the start of video conferencing and broadcasting services, Taiwan Urological Association hopes that with the formation of these infrastructures, members are able to participate in the discussions and learning at any corner of the world in the future.

Last but not least, I wish you all the best and meet you all in Taipei, August 21, 2020.

The 21th Chairman of Taiwan Urological Association

Professor PU, YUNG-HSIAO of Department of Urology, National Taiwan University Hospital

2020