Coexistence of science and art—in celebration of Prof. Anthony Yim’s reception of PAMITS Honorary Fellowship

Reaching another milestone in career, Prof. Anthony Yim, as a renowned former thoracic surgeon and a current artist, was presented an Honorary Fellowship from the Philippines Association of Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgeons (PAMITS) at a reception ceremony on 19 February, 2019 held at the Conference Hall, International Medical Centre, Hong Kong.

In celebration of this special occasion, a number of PAMITS delegations from the Philippines and former students and mentees of Prof. Yim all flocked together on purpose to express their gratitude to Prof. Yim for his immense contribution in the field of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and his continuous guidance and education in the VATS technique.

Hosted by our well-respected long-time friend Dr. Alan Sihoe, also a student of Prof. Yim, the ceremony was filled with unfadable memories and earnest aspirations (Figure 1). One by one, the participants shared their unique stories with Prof. Yim and sincerely thanked him for not only bestowing the skills upon them, but the life lessons from him that helped them grow as a person (Figure 2).

Figure 1 Dr. Alan Sihoe hosted this celebrative event.

Figure 2 Students of Prof. Yim showed their thankfulness to him one by one.

Witnessed by all participants, Prof. Yim vowed to fully commit himself to promote the values of PAMITS, to advocate knowledge, expertise and resources that he has gained to other members, to train fellows of the association and to treat patients regardless of their social status and capability. He was officially presented the Honorary Fellowship from the association (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Prof. Yim officially received the Honorary Fellowship from PAMITS.

With this great opportunity, Prof. Yim presented Dr. Sihoe his recent work as a gift—a painting portraying the future where lots of robotics will be used in the lab, and expressed his best regards to the bright future of Dr. Sihoe’s career as well as the scientific world (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Prof. Yim presented Dr. Sihoe his recent work as gift.

The ceremony was brought to a perfect ending with a group photo-taking session (Figure 5), followed by a specially arranged feast for all guests of honor.

Figure 5 A group photo featuring all participants, including our AME editors.

Out of guests’ expectation, the banquet was filled with a dynamic vibe given by a series of Prof. Yim’s recent works hanging all around the dining room (Figure 6). It was actually a surprise Prof. Yim prepared beforehand for all guests. Once again, Prof. Yim used action to tell us that no matter what we pursue in life, we have to live with a passion, as what he said, “If you think you are doing the right thing, don’t care too much about the criticisms. Art is more for oneself rather than for viewers. If people appreciate your work, it’d be a bonus. The primary goal is to rediscover oneself.”

Figure 6 The dining room was filled with an energetic vibe with Prof. Yim’s recent paintings.

Acknowledgements

None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.