History

History of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

The establishment of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

Taiwan Epilepsy Society (TES) initially was named as Chinese Epilepsy Society (CES), which was established by a group of neurologists who had passion and enthusiasm on November 3rd, 1990. CES joined International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in 1993, and has officially become a member of ILAE ever since. We used '' Taiwan"' to join the international organizations which recommended by the board of supervisors in order to comply with the trend, and strengthened the image as a professional medical group. The proposal was approved by the general assembly in 2000, and CES was officially changed to TES. It was reported to the Ministry of the Interior and ILAE, and subsequently used until now.

The epilepsy milestone before the establishment of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

In the beginning, the study and education of epilepsy was mainly established by three seniors, they were: Dr. Tsu-Pei Hung (from National Taiwan University Hospital, NTUH, previous president of Taiwan Neurology Society, TNS), Dr. Rong-Chi Chen (previous assistant administrator of NTUH, president of TNS, and dean of En Chu Kong hospital) and Dr. Chun-ren Shi (the former director of Ministry of Health and Welfare, previous advisor of National Policy) .

The 1st Grass brainwave devices was purchased by Department of Neuropsychiatry of NTU in 1954, and electroencephalographic examination was set up which mainly managed by Dr. Tsu-Pei Hung. Clinic has been set up since 1957, manual of  "Epilepsy" information has been published, too. In the other words, it could be explained as the origin of medical care for epilepsy in Taiwan.

Department of neurology in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) was established by Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih, in 1977 and he devoted a lot of time to the medical care for epilepsy. In 1981, an outpatient clinic has been set up for epilepsy patient.

Dr. Ming-Shung Su from Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) learned EEG and epilepsy from the neuromedical center of Columbia, United States in 1981, while there was only one outpatient clinic for epilepsy which set up by Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih in Taiwan. Meanwhile, Carbamazepine had been widely used in Europe and United States for epilepsy, while we have not caught up with the trend regarding to the aspect of medicine. Therefore, Dr. Ming-Shung Su contacted Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih and discussed to invite neurologists from several large hospitals in Taipei to meet and invite the agent of Carbamazepine which called Ciba. The participants for the meetings with Ciba were all the key role of Taiwan epilepsy industry, they were: Dr. Ming-Shung Su from TVGH, Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih from Chang Gung Medical Foundation, Dr. Wen-Long Tsao from Tri-Service General Hospital, Dr. Hou-Chang Chiu from NTUH and Jin-biao-Yang from Mackay Memorial Hospital. The meeting was set up quarterly and the participants of the meeting have been gradually increased. Dr. Chun-Hing Yiu from neurology, Dr. Ching-Shiang Chi, Dr.Yuan-yao Shen , Dr. Zun-Jen Lo, Dr. Kun-Long Hung and Dr. Kai-Ping, Chang from pediatric neurology, Dr. Tai-Tong Wong, Dr. Yang-Hsin Shih and Dr. Chen-Nen Chang from neurosurgery have all been gradually attended. The time for relationship building was created more rather than academics because there were not many participants at first. A deep relationship and friendship has been established, providing a good start between epilepsy and nerves for decades.

The division of Neuropsychiatric in TVGH was divided into Psychiatric and Neurology in 1983. EEG room was set up in division of Neurology which led by Dr. Ming-Shung Su and the consultation for epilepsy has been starting as well. In 1983, Dr. Tai-Tong Wong from the division of Neurosurgery for children in TVGH and Dr. Ching-Shiang Chi from the division of Neurology for children adopted a self-made electrode for examining cerebral cortex EEG when removing a temporal lobe tumor from a child.

In August 1987, Dr. Yang-Hsin Shih from the division of neurosurgery in Taipei Veterans General Hospital came back from Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and cooperated with Dr. Chun-Hing Yiu who studied the preoperative evaluation of epilepsy in MNI as well. Epilepsy Surgery Program was first established and various types of epilepsy surgery had begun. (Remarks：Currently, the following hospitals provided the surgery for epilepsy, they were: TVGH, Linkou CGMH, NTUH, NCKUH, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, China Medical University Hospital, CSMUH and Taichung Veterans General Hospital).

In 1988, the number of doctors working in division of epilepsy has been gradually increased. Northern monthly meeting for epilepsy was decided to be held, and each hospital was rotated to host the meeting. The first monthly meeting was held in Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in September 1988 which hosted by Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih. The lecture of Forced Normalization was presented by Dr. Qing-zhou Chen who comes from Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Monthly meeting for epilepsy were held in major hospitals in Taipei, and it will expand to Southern part of Taiwan as well after increasing the centripetal force of the Northern part.

The event of ''beyond Taipei'' was firstly launched in Tainan Cheng Kung University Hospital on May 27th, 1989, and the event was presented by Dr. Ming-Liang Lai. The first part was presented by Dr. Shung-Lon Lai and Dr. Shun-Sheng Chen from the college of Kaohsiung medical, the lecture of this part was: Catamenial Epilepsy：Clinical Review and An Animal Model. Epilepsy in Taiwan：Past，Present and Future was presented after the first part of lecture, and it was introduced by Dr.Jing-Jane Tsai from NCKUH. Monthly meeting for epilepsy was changed to the national "Epilepsy Symposium" once every three months because of the demand from all over Taiwan. The first symposium of epilepsy was held in Taipei Veterans General Hospital on September 30th, 1989, Dr. Fu-Li Chu was the host and presented the topic of what is Epilepsy. The symposium of epilepsy has been a national event ever since the seminar has been displayed in North, Central and South part of Taiwan.

The preparation stage of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

Dr. Jing-Jane Tsai played an important role during the establishment of TES. Dr. Jing-Jane Tsai learned JME from the master of epilepsy (Dr. Janz), and also experienced the development of epilepsy in Europe during 1977-1988. In 1980, he met Dr. Marshal (Mo-Song) Hsih when attending the 12th International Epilepsy Seminar in Copenhagen. In 1985, he ran into Dr. Chi-Wan Lai when attending the 16th International Epilepsy Seminar in Hamburg, Germany. In the other words, he concluded that most of people were interested in the development and research of epilepsy in Taiwan, so the discussion of how to promote the medical care for epilepsy has started. Under a circumstance which made up by overseas meeting, the development of epilepsy in Taiwan has been paid more attention.

TES was advocated to be set up after Dr. Jing-Jane Tsai coming back from Europe. The meeting with the topic of “organizer of Taiwan Epilepsy Society and the first preparatory meeting” was convoked and took place at Tri-Service General Hospital on October 6th, 1990, and Dr. Jing-Jane Tsai was elected as the chairman of the preparation committee. During the second preparation of the meeting, TES was positioned as a subspecialty of Taiwan Society of Neurology. Members of the society were mainly neurologists which recognized by the Department of Health (which is Ministry of Health and Welfare nowadays). The first medical conference in Taiwan was held on November 3th, 1990 in Taipei Veterans General Hospital, and it was conducted by Dr. Chun-ren Shi. There were 250 members in the first year, which means the majority of neurologists in Taiwan were enrolled. Dr. Jing-Jane Tsai was elected as the president a few days later, and Dr. Yang-Hsin Shih was the secretary-general of the society. Taipei Epilepsy Symposium was held in 1990, and the director of Japan Epilepsy Society (Dr. Masakazu Seino) was invited to join the meeting. On the other hand, Dr. Gerhard H. Fromm, Dr. Jiro Mukawa, Dr. Juhn A. Wada and Dr. Y. Lucas Yamamoto were invited to join the meeting as well, the meeting has become more micro after that.

 

The structure of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

Taiwan Epilepsy Society consists of executive committee which comprises 15 Directors and 5 Supervisors. 5 Executive Directors will be selected from 1 of the 15 Directors, and president of TES will be elected by 15 Directors from 1 of the 5 Executive Directors. Executive Supervisor will be elected from 1 of the 5 Supervisors. Secretariat is set up to handle board meetings and serves as advisors to the board directors. There is 1 Secretary-General, 2 Deputy Secretary-Generals and 1 Secretary. In addition, several committees and task force (TF) are established in accordance with the business needs.

Routine activities of Taiwan Epilepsy Society

Taiwan Epilepsy Society has held a large number of activities every year, which may be proclaimed the highest amount in the community. In 2013, we were praised by Ministry of The Interior as a meritorious community:

  1. Annual epilepsy society meetings and academic seminar
  2. Training course for new neurologist (mainly for young neurologists who have passed the test of neurology and was held once a year)
  3. The seminar for epilepsy education (mainly for doctors in Taiwan which was held in every cities annually)
  4. The epilepsy workshops for nurses (mainly for nurses in Taiwan and it is held 4 times a year in North, Central, South and East part of Taiwan)
  5. The epilepsy workshops for school nurses (mainly for school nurses from elementary and secondary schools in Taiwan and it is held 4 times a year in North, Central, South and East part of Taiwan)
  6. The epilepsy workshops for school administration staffs (mainly for administration staffs from schools in Taiwan and it is held 4 times a year in North, Central, South and East part of Taiwan)
  7. The epilepsy education for primary and secondary schools and school of special education (mainly for teachers in all primary and secondary schools and special school in Taiwan)
  8. The workshops for EEG Education (mainly for doctors, EEG technicians and medical technologist in Taiwan, and it is divided into primary, intermediate and advanced classes. It is held in North, Central and South part of Taiwan)
  9. Taiwan Registry for Epilepsy and Pregnancy, TREP (mainly for pregnant women with epilepsy)
  10. The ultrasonic allowance to pregnant woman with epilepsy
  11. Essay competitions (It is held with the theme of concern for epilepsy, divided into 2 groups: one is group of epilepsy patients, the other is group of social friends. It provides a platform for epilepsy patients and their family to reveal their stories and thoughts. Besides, it is open to public so everyone can join this activity to understand epilepsy better. The winner will awarded first prize at the annual meeting of society, and the essay will be printed and published for free distribution to public.
  12. Journal of an epileptic seizure, poster of Identification of epileptic drug, manual of epilepsy drugs and publication of social education in epilepsy ( it will be revised and printed as needed annually, which provides for free distribution to society members and  epilepsy patients).
  13. Guideline of medical treatment in Taiwan (it will be revised and printed as needed annually, which provides for free distribution to society members and epilepsy patients).
  14. Standard translation in Chinese of epilepsy and nouns of EEG (it will be revised and printed as needed annually, which provides for free distribution to society members and epilepsy patients)
  15. Non-routine activities: The painting competition for epilepsy patients, national road running with the name of "care in love for epilepsy",  the educational epilepsy workshops in various regions and the educational epilepsy workshops for pharmacy practitioners.

 (prepared by Dr. Shang-Yeong Kwan)

Last updated date : 2020/02/19
Development after the establishment of the Taiwan Epilepsy Medical Association