Biography and Statement/motivation
Watcharaphol Alexandre Kamnerdsiri, Belgium
Why I choose to run for a re-election?
I was elected a Member at Large in 2016 at the 20th World Meeting on Sexual Medicine. My engagement was to promote the organization of the 22nd World Meeting on Sexual Medicine in Japan and to assist my JSSM colleagues in its organization.
In this aim, during my four years term, I engaged myself by participating in all the ISSM Board Meetings and discuss and negotiate with the sponsors of the event and JSSM colleagues who organized it. After more than three years of continuous work in this meeting preparation, everything was set for our 22nd World Meeting on Sexual Medicine which should happen in September right after Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, 22nd World Meeting must be postponed to November 15-17, 2021. I feel a moral engagement to hold on to my promise to help my Japanese colleagues and our society during this difficult time and that why I am presenting myself at the election for a second term.
To keep the project on track, I agreed with ISSM Executive Board decision to postpone the World Meeting to 2021 and not just to cancel it as it was a moment considered. Nevertheless, to be able to prolong my efforts in the organization of this World Meeting, I need your support in my re-election run as a member at large of ISSM Board for another term.
Educational Background
I was born and educated in Thailand. I moved to Greece for my medical studies after being awarded a full scholarship from the Hellenic Ministry of National Defense. After obtaining my medical degree (M.D.) from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a diploma in military medicine from the Hellenic Corps Officers Military Academy, I pursued specialist training in family medicine, and then in general and forensic psychiatry in France. Later, I moved to England, where I received a postgraduate degree (M.Sc.) with merit in War Psychiatry and War Studies at King’s College London. It was during this period that I focused my professional interests in military sexuality, primarily sexual dysfunction in men with war service-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) and Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
I do my doctoral studies (Ph.D.) at the Institute of Sexology and the Department of Psychiatry, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Professional Background
Since 2014, I have shifted my focus from psychiatry to working as a family physician at my own private practice in Brussels. In my clinical practice, my sexual medicine background allows me to assist patients encountering difficulties in this domain as first line doctor. I notably focus on men’s sexual satisfaction and its common antagonists: erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE). I have had some success with the use of non-medical devices to help patients who encounter such problems. This gave me the opportunity to form a close collaboration with a company in Japan to develop a new line of products with a more medical orientation.
I led a workshop on military sexual health at the 18th World Meeting on Sexual Medicine (WMSM) in Chicago and was the keynote speaker at the 13th Asia Oceania Federation of Sexology (AOFS) conference in Brisbane in 2014. For this occasion, I gave in interview published in the Australian Financial Review.
I also participated in several media events, such as television program on AIDS prevention for Greek National Television sponsored by World Health Organization (WHO) and a series of short programs on sexuality. Recently, I gave long interviews on a prime-time talk show on Thai televisions and in press media.
Scientific Production
I served as a senior consultant for an international research team on sexual tourism in Thailand and worked as a translation editor for the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality, Thai edition. I have also participated in interventions at conferences around the world, presenting on MST and the criminal consequences of extreme sexual practices; and I am the author of a book published in Thailand on psychosocial aspects of engagement in the French Foreign Legion. I wrote a post-conference report on the 22nd Asia Pacific Military Medicine Conference which was published in the second quarter issue of the 2012 Medical Corps International Forum.
I was invited to present my workshop in Military Sexual Health at the 18th WMSM in Chicago, and was asked to do workshop in similar theme at the 13th AOFS Conference in Brisbane, Australia in 2014. In November 2015, I was invited to give a lecture at the 3rd Urological Symposium hosted by the Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University in Hokkaido, Japan.
Positions and qualifications for leadership:
I fluently speak English, French, Greek, and Thai, as well as conversational Czech and Laotian. This multilingual ability, combined with my international traveling habits, would allow me to be a bridge between the different societies affiliated with ISSM, while keeping a grassroots connection through my work with patients in my private practice.
My organizational and leadership abilities are evidenced in a variety of ways. In 1997, I was responsible for organizing the visit of 343 service personnel of the Royal Thai Navy in an official visit to Greece. In 2009, I oversaw the official visit of a group of 97 Royal Thai Armed Forces commanding officers to Germany, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters in Brussels, and French Ministry of Defense Headquarters in Paris.
In the national level (Belgium), I have been appointed by Royal Decree of the Kingdom of Belgium in 2019 to be a member of the Joint Committee for General Medicine (5 years term). In this Joint Committee, I helped to introduce the existence of ISSM in the role of promoting Sexual Medicine in General Medicine.
Sexual Medicine has not yet been recognized as a medical specialty in Belgium. However, it can be considered as a clinical and academic interest. Locally, the cultural environment may deter suffering people from requesting assistance in the search for an accomplished and satisfying sexuality. I would like to extend the accessibility of sexual medicine by collaborating with other family doctors in the world.
How long I have been a member of the ISSM?
I became a member of ISSM in 2011, and I have been an ISSM Educational Committee member since 2012.
Why do I want to serve the ISSM?
In 2011, I was granted an ISSM scholarship for a course in the European School of Sexual Medicine at St Catherine’s College, Oxford, England. Since then, I have been looking for an opportunity to show my appreciation by serving our community.
At this moment, my professional activities and obligations allow me the freedom to dedicate some time to altruistic actions. With my family ties, I alternate between Europe and Asia, which gives me the opportunity to regularly access most of the countries of these two continents. I am very keen to use this time and travel ability for the development of ISSM, an entity that encompasses a great part of my professional interests.
What is my vision for the future for ISSM?
I propose to assist in the expansion of ISSM’s presence in three directions:
- In Asia, which is rich in the practice of holistic, traditional medicine, but is also defined by its constrained views toward sexuality. A specific attention should be given to the information of doctors in the developing countries.
- Toward global family doctors, who are sometime unaware of the benefit a closer collaboration with urologists and psychologists may provide to the wellbeing of their patients.
- Worldwide, by trying to intensify the exchanges and collaboration between the six societies affiliated to ISSM.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to those who signed the nomination for me to be listed as a member-at-large candidate in this election. It is a challenging manifestation of trust and confidence that I will try my best to deserve.