Dr. Alejandro Piscoya from Peru, in charge of the WGO Scientific Committee for Clinical Guidelines and future president of OPGE 2023: “We are experiencing a huge change in the paradigm of medical education”

Although there is still a year to go before he assumes the presidency of the Pan American Gastroenterology Organization (OPGE), Dr. Piscoya is already participating in a series of activities that will help raise the health realities of our specialty in the region, as well as maintain a presence America in international spaces that seek to improve the training of gastroenterologists and endoscopists for a more timely diagnosis.

With a smile and a cadence that is not consistent with the positions and the agenda he has, Dr. Alejandro Piscoya tells us about his view of the education and training of the new generations of gastroenterologists and endoscopists in Latin America, and of the challenges that he hopes to address in the OPGE starting next year.

Dr. Alejandro Piscoya, vice president of the Society of Gastroenterology of Peru, Head of Gastroenterology at Hospital Guillermo Kaelin de la Fuente and editor of the Journal of Gastroenterology of Peru, is an eminence in education in this subspecialty and although he humbly comments that almost “accidentally” obtained a study scholarship in La Paz, Bolivia, through the Medical College of Peru; Only then did he learn about a learning opportunity that the Japanese Bolivian Institute of Gastroenterology (IGBJ) called at the time, thanks to the support of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Piscoya explains that when he attended his first training course at this center, one of the most prestigious in the world, he never thought he would have access not only to the latest technology, but also to become an apprentice to the most erudite endoscopists.

“It was the third year that, thanks to a WGO agreement, training scholarships were awarded. I remember that the fact of having two intensive weeks of training with young specialists from all over Latin America, Central America and even Mexico seemed very attractive. Beyond the technique, I found it a very enriching experience to share and exchange realities about the gastroenterology approach”.

The specialist highlights that the experience also constituted a unique instance to learn how countries faced diagnoses such as celiac disease, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) and gastric cancer. “In addition to building bonds of friendship, it was an opportunity to investigate in depth and to learn in a very participatory way,” says Dr. Piscoya.

Since then, Alejandro has spent more than 20 years dedicated to the training of gastroenterology specialists, at a time when he is grateful for the end of a period in which education was very vertical and authoritarian. “Today we are experiencing a huge change in the paradigm of medical education. The teacher exchanges opinions with his apprentices and that exercise in itself constitutes learning. A wonderful feedback based on humility is generated to teach, to recognize mistakes, to correct and learn “, says the vice president of the Society of Gastroenterology of Peru.

Hoy en día los cursos internacionales congregan a diversas generaciones de especialistas de la gastroenterología y la endoscopía provenientes de Europa, Japón y Estados Unidos. Parte de las actividades incluyen procedimientos que permiten entrenar habilidades y retroalimentar conocimientos de formadores y de aprendices. “Bajo la iniciativa Train The Trainers (TTT) de la WGO, además se incluyen cursos de docencia, en los que aprendemos a enseñar. Y es que no basta con saber de medicina, es muy importante saber enseñar a profesionales adultos, utilizar las tecnologías y saber reconocer los aspectos importantes de una investigación o una publicación médica internacional”.
Piscoya recuerda que en sus inicios, el Dr. Roque Sáenz (Chile), por ejemplo, observó que había una dificultad con el inglés en la docencia, ello considerando el lenguaje técnico propio de la especialidad. “Una cosa es enseñar sobre endoscopías, pero en la docencia es más complicado para quienes no somos nativos. Así nació un programa piloto de entrenamiento docente en español, una experiencia muy útil que permitió anticipar dificultades”, añade.

Con orgullo, el Dr. Piscoya comenta que en el año 2013, alcanzaron una aprobación del 95% en la calidad docente, un estándar muy superior a la media. El especialista asegura que este ejercicio de bajar al docente desde un pedestal históricamente infalible, hizo sin duda de la educación un proceso más eficiente, útil y enriquecedor con beneficio doble, tanto para el educador como para el aprendiz. “Acostumbrado a las jerarquías del ecosistema educacional, viví en primera persona el impacto positivo de otro modelo de educación y formación práctica. Debemos partir por reconocer que somos seres falibles y hay que aprender a reconocer los desfaces con las nuevas generaciones, aceptando que la evidencia está al alcance de todos. En 25 años de experiencia profesional, uno puede haber visto 1000 pacientes y la evidencia te provee la experiencia de 25 mil pacientes. Eso es indiscutible y debemos valorar el trabajo de otros”.

Como miembro de la Academia de Educadores de la American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), el Dr. Piscoya reconoce que nunca se termina de aprender. “Uno como médico lee toda la vida y aprendemos a revisar acuciosamente la metodología de las investigaciones, incluso más allá de los resultados. Si el método falla, no se pueden corregir los errores. Sabemos que incluso reconocidas publicaciones médicas y científicas cometen errores y es importante transmitir este tipo de fallas a los alumnos, para que así aprendan a ser más rigurosos como investigadores y como lectores”.

Alejandro se sonríe al momento de hacer un balance de su historia como educador y concluye: “Tengo la convicción de que la distancia daña la capacidad de enseñar. No es bueno aprender con miedo. Lo más provechoso es trabajar juntos en una mesa y alimentar una relación horizontal entre educador y aprendiz. Las nuevas generaciones son muy digitales y tienen mucho que enseñarnos, ya que somos migrantes digitales. Ambos aprendemos de nuestros aciertos y más aún de nuestros errores. Este desafío permanente me obliga a sumergirme en los procesos analíticos y reflexivos de mis alumnos, para detectar el error y corregir a tiempo”.

Al cierre de esta entrevista, es imposible abstraerse del contexto de la pandemia. Al consultar al Dr. Alejandro Piscoya acerca del impacto del COVID en Perú, él explica: “Al igual que todos, hemos sido golpeados por esta enfermedad. Este escenario dejó al descubierto la realidad de nuestra salud pública. Somos un país emergente que ha crecido en los últimos 20 años y muchos salieron de la pobreza, pero ello no se ha traducido en mejores instituciones, salud y educación. La economía acaparó la atención por mucho tiempo y la pandemia desnudó las inequidades. No tuvimos las herramientas para responder a esta enfermedad, desde el número de camas y ventiladores hasta el capital humano formado para responder a las exigencias. Si bien, rápidamente pudimos mejorar la infraestructura, las personas no se pueden formar rápidamente, lo que puso en valor la importancia de la formación especializada. Debemos resolver la escasez de gastroenterólogos que manejen patologías y sepan procedimientos. La mitad del país no tiene acceso a especialistas de gastroenterología y más de la mitad de nuestros hospitales están en Lima. A ello se suma que nuestros especialistas en endoscopía avanzada se van a Bolivia, Colombia y Argentina, y esa fuga de capital humano valioso debe ser recaptado, ya que nuestro país estamos llegando 10 a 15 años tarde al diagnóstico oportuno de nuestros cánceres digestivos, sin considerar que el cáncer de colon -otrora considerado enfermedad del tercer mundo- hoy está entre los “top 10″ de los cánceres generales y aún no contamos con un programa de prevención”.

La OPGE hoy tiene un asiento en el comité de la WGO y según el Dr. Alejandro Piscoya, este espacio permitirá canalizar preocupaciones y desafíos propios de nuestra región.

Latinoamérica cuenta con centros de formación que nos permitirán mejorar la precisión y la oportunidad en el diagnóstico y para hacer esto realidad, es determinante mejorar el grupo de entrenadores que construyen los peldaños que nos permitirán ascender en esta ruta de perfeccionamiento.

Dr. Carolina Olano, Secretary General World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO): Gender equality, climate change and education will be priorities for the WGO

Carolina proudly confesses to being a Latin American gastroenterologist and recognizes herself as a lover of this specialty. Professor of medicine at the University of the Republic of Uruguay, today assumes as secretary general of the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO), confirming her commitment to the fair development of quality medicine accessible from the regions of the Americas, Africa and Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Coming from the interior of Uruguay, from a town called Vergara, Carolina Olano grew up in a middle-class family and a lot of effort, as she describes it. The daughter of a teacher mother and banker father, she was educated along with her sister with clear values ​​and principles, forging respect for others and appreciation for effort and dedication, as a daily task that always brings rewards in life. She comments between laughs that her mother assures that she wanted to be a doctor since she was 6 years old, a decision that she never doubted, and that only involved other choices when choosing her subspecialty, when at the beginning of her career she was blinded by Surgery. Remember that he had a mentor and great master of surgery in those years, with a great storytelling ability and that he used to tell them mythological legends such as “Laocconte” and this battle that a Trojan priest and his twin sons waged against sea serpents, making the allusion to the fight of the surgeon, with the help of the endoscopist and the radiologist, against the disease. Today Carolina assures that history would probably be different, since in a collaborative dynamic, with no specialist being more important than another, gastroenterologists and endoscopists wage a very professional battle in the fight against digestive pathologies.

Dr. Olano was president of the Uruguayan Society of Gastroenterology a few years ago, and she also has a long history at OPGE. Although today she assumes the post of secretary general of the WGO, her history in this place is as long as in the academy, where she is still the only professor of gastroenterology at her house of studies, the University of the Republic.



How do you assume this new commitment within WGO?
This position for me is a challenge and a high honor, since it is an organization that brings together 117 member societies, representing more than 60,000 gastroenterologists and that has welcomed professionals of the highest level, representing the 4 most important regions of the globe: The Americas, Africa and the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific.
I also feel very proud to hold this position as a professional Latin American woman, which commits me to channel and represent the concerns of the union and gender, in terms of all the countries that WGO represents, in addition to considering other aspects of current affairs as is the post-pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
In this first stage, I not only hope to follow the guidelines of our president at WGO, Dr. Guilherme Macedo, but also continue with the work of inclusion of women in gastroenterology and enable spaces that allow them to access leadership positions and the promotion of development of the female professional career, identifying all types of open or covert discrimination.

In addition to the efforts in terms of gender equity, what are the challenges in WGO?
Another big challenge is climate change. Migration and the appearance of new infectious diseases in areas most affected by climate change are a current concern in our directive. We seek to collect the needs in a timely manner, learning from the inequities that the pandemic uncovered in 2020 and 2021.

Another important aspect of our work plan is education, and for this we will continue with the TTT program, Train the Trainers, which also includes the development of soft skills such as teamwork, group discussion, adult education, communication techniques, and other more leadership-oriented components. For that, we hope to focus on the most vulnerable regions and with fewer specialists in order to facilitate access to training in endoscopy and hepatology, among others. Along these same lines, a program aimed at young people was recently created, associated with leadership, which will help them conduct their careers based on their stated objectives and includes remote tutoring, so that together we can help them design their roadmap, considering the conditioning factors that determine it and taking advantage of the WGO’s instruments and networks, with a strong motivational component.

Carolina feels fulfilled as a woman and professional. Married to a lawyer and mother of two children, a communications sciences student (22 years old) and a basketball player studying business administration (19), she comments that she still cultivates traditions very typical of rural family life, and is very attentive to the formation of good people. Likewise, as an academic of the Faculty of Medicine, she treasures the instances of conversation with the new generations, insisting on the vocation of service and humanity in the treatment of the patient, especially at times when we give bad news.



“It is so important to shake hands or caress the patient who suffers or who experiences fear or uncertainty. I would not want our doctors to lose those skills that are as powerful as knowledge or good treatment. In the same way, I try to convey to them that effort is the requirement that prevails in every project that is undertaken, as well as the determination not to abandon our purpose.The patient is not a set of organs, he is a human being who feels and that we must keep at the center of our daily work “, he concludes.

Review:
Dr. Olano is Professor Director of the Department of Gastroenterology at the University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay. She graduated in medicine (MD) from the University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay in 1993 and obtained a postgraduate degree in Gastroenterology from the same university in 1996. She completed her training in gastrointestinal endoscopy at the Gastroenterology Clinic and associated public hospitals in Montevideo. After an internship at the department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany in 2008, she specialized in video capsule endoscopy and enteroscopy.

She has shown a deep interest in university education, achieving in 2010 a master’s degree (M Sc (Ed)) at a private university in Montevideo (Universidad ORT). Dr. Olano participates in educational activities of the World Gastroenterology Organization, has been part of the faculty of the Spanish TTT program and was a member of the working groups of the guidelines for IBS and celiac disease. She is the current Secretary General of the WGO, after stepping down as Chairman of its Scientific Committee.
She has held various positions in the Uruguayan Society of Gastroenterology, including President, Secretary and President of International Affairs.

Her main areas of interest include intestinal diseases and medical education.

Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana, president of the OPGE period 2018-2021: “I feel that the pandemic strengthened us in many ways”

In a quite intimate conversation, Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana welcomes us with a book in his hands, which was prepared by his father (Dr. Horacio Gutiérrez Blanco) that contains 120 biographical reviews on Exemplary Uruguayan Doctors, and after rereading the dedication from his father addressed to him in 1989, he feels that precisely that message gave him more energy to continue working for the OPGE in years as difficult as the last two, in the context of a pandemic. The World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) has just distinguished Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana, for his leadership, dedication and commitment as a member of the OPGE Governing Council in his 2018-2021 period.

This remarkable speaker of our subspecialty of medicine, he comes from a family with a long history in gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy. In fact, his father was an emeritus professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Republic of Uruguay, a founding member in 1946 of the Latin American Association of Gastroenterology, which would later become the Inter-American Association of Gastroenterology (AIGE), and from From 2016 it was renamed OPGE, and President of the Latin American Association of Coloproctology (ALACP) during the years 1962-1963. Likewise, his older brother Horacio and his nephew Juan Pablo also chose his professional vocation for gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy.

The arrival of COVID undoubtedly shook various spaces of society and humanity. Along with this and presiding over the OPGE, Gutiérrez Galiana recalls that it was an intense period of changing decisions that put various activities in check, including the Pan American Congress of Gastroenterology. “I feel that the pandemic strengthened us in many ways. On the one hand, we learned about the advantages of remote telecommunications, opening the opportunity for many more people to participate, and on the other hand, it fueled the need to empower and unite even more as an organization and community. Very nice and significant gestures were given that strengthened our ties in the Pan-American region, as well as worldwide.”

In a totally virtual modality, the congress was held in July 2021, registering a total of 2,242 participants from 40 countries and exhibitors from the 22 countries of the Americas that are members of OPGE, as well as representatives from several countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, such as Morocco, Egypt, Spain, Germany, England, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Japan, Austria, Portugal, France, China, Holland and Belgium, among others. We also had the participation of 220 professors from 34 countries, and 37 Associations and Organizations of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy from around the world, who were present at different symposiums and courses in the specialty. The meeting lasted for 3 days, and had 4 parallel rooms in which 457 conferences were given, and 123 research papers were submitted.

Dr. Gutiérrez Galiana points out: “The virtual modality showed important advantages to share teachings with a wide audience and facilitate access to participants from all over the world, who valued the teaching aspect of this format of activities. Surely the hybrid modality will continue to be It is important to note that last year we awarded 3 prizes to the best scientific papers presented at the congress, calling them: Prof. Dr. Elbio Zeballos prize, Prof. Dr. Luis Alberto Boerr prize and Prof. Dr. Horacio Gutiérrez Blanco, and 3 new Masters of Pan American Gastroenterology were appointed: Professors Dr. Elena Fosman from Uruguay, Dr. Sheila Crowe from the USA and Dr. Miguel Ángel Valdovinos from Mexico.

Together with the XXXVII Pan-American Congress of Gastroenterology, the XX Uruguayan Congress of Gastroenterology and the X Uruguayan Congress of Digestive Endoscopy were held, whose presidents were Drs. Virginia López and Federico De Simone, respectively. Gutiérrez Galiana highlighted the importance of the enormous collaborative work of the 22 Associations and Organizations of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy of the Americas that are members of OPGE, and in addition to 15 of the main Associations of the specialty from the rest of the world, who participated in the congress carrying out various activities. , highlighting the Symposium of the Americas where all the member associations of OPGE participated, the Symposium of the World Organization of Gastroenterology WGO, chaired by its president Prof. Dr. Naima Amrani, the distinguished conference of the WGO given by Prof. Dr. Richard Kozarek, the Symposium of the European Union of Gastroenterology UEG, the Symposium of the American College of Gastroenterology ACG, the Symposium of the American Association of Gastroenterology AGA, the Symposium of the Latin American Association for the Study of the Liver ALEH, the Symposium of the Pan American Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Organization PANCCO, the Symposium of the Latin American Society of Neurogastroenterology, the Symposium of the Mc Master University of Canada, the Symposium of the Spanish Society of Digestive Pathology SEPD, the Symposium of the Spanish Association of Gastroenterology AEG, the Symposium of the Rome Foundation, the Symposium of the Spanish Group for the Study of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis GETECCU, among others. “Nothing achieved could have been done without the work and dedicated commitment of the Scientific Commission of the congress, since virtuality allowed us to focus on the performance of the virtual event perfectly. To do this, all the presentations were recorded and delivered previously , in order to comply with the planned times, and only connect the exhibitors for the rounds of questions and discussion”, adds the former president of OPGE.

During his period and thanks to the collaborative effort of essential scientific and administrative teams, as he points out, courses were held on Upper and Lower Digestive Tube, and Hepatology (2019 and 2020). 15 Webinar seminars have also been developed since 2019 together with the American College of Gastroenterology ACG, an organization with which an important link was consolidated. He highlights that he was fundamental during the entire period at the head of OPGE, the invaluable support received by the World Gastroenterology Organization WGO.

“From the OPGE, the existence of this organization dedicated to the development of knowledge in gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy in America is fundamental, and teamwork is very important. There is a before and after the pandemic and I think we have reaped a lot of learning that forces us to to continue advancing and perfecting ourselves. When you work with love and in a group there are no limits and without a doubt we can build synergies and a virtuous circle that allows us to grow and feed each other as a community. My thanks go out for having been part of this wonderful process”, he concludes Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana.

He reviews more details of the congress at:
https://sped2021.com/home/

OPGE Directive 2018-2021:
Eduardo Gutierrez Galiana – President (Uruguay)
Javier San Martin – Vice President (Uruguay)
José Pedro Ibargoyen – Secretary General (Uruguay)
Ana Laura Rodríguez – Treasurer (Uruguay)
Juan Pablo Gutiérrez Aguiar – Deputy Secretary (Uruguay)
Virginia González – Pro-Treasurer (Uruguay)
Edgardo Smecuol – Executive Secretary (Argentina)
María Deambrosio – Administrative Secretary (Uruguay)

OPGE Scientific and Education Commission:
Horacio Gutierrez Galiana (Uruguay)
Edgardo Smecuol (Argentina)
Richard Kozarek (USA)
Arnoldo Riquelme (Chile)
OPGE Research and Publications Commission:
David Carr-Locke (USA)
Thomas Kroner (USA)

Commission of Past-Presidents of OPGE:
Julio Cesar Bai (Argentina)
Luis Carlos Sabbagh (Colombia)
Jose Roberto de Almeida (Brazil)

Scientific Commission of the XXXVII Pan American Congress of Gastroenterology:
José Pedro Ibargoyen (President of the Scientific Commission of the Pan American Congress) (Uruguay)
Carla Bianchi (Uruguay)
Cristina Dacoll (Uruguay)
Federico De Simone (Uruguay)
Nicolas Gonzalez (Uruguay)
Juan Pablo Gutierrez Aguiar (Uruguay)
Horacio Gutierrez Galiana (Uruguay)
Beatriz Iade (Uruguay)
Susan Kohen (Uruguay)
Thomas Kroner (USA)
Virginia Lopez (Uruguay)
Klaus Monkemuller (Germany)
Carolina Olano (Uruguay)
Yessica Pontet (Uruguay)
Adriana Raggio (Uruguay)
Elena Trucco (Uruguay)

We are waiting for you at this important event: “The best of DDW 2022 in Spanish”

Digestive Disease Week (DDW) is an attractive event aimed at gastroenterologists from around the world, many of whom come from Spanish-speaking countries. A few years ago, the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) included the session called “The Best of DDW in Spanish”, which seeks to spread the best of its days to its audience.

For “The Best of DDW in Spanish”, this year AGA has invited 5 experts in different subjects of our discipline, among them: Dr. Arnoldo Riquelme (Chile), Dr. Rodrigo Jover (Spain), Dr. Mario Pelaez Luna (Mexico), Dr. Sonia Niveloni (Argentina) and Dr. Fabián Emura (Colombia), who will discuss valuable information on gastric disorders, colorectal cancer, pancreatic disease, celiac disease and endoscopy.

This interesting session will be led by Professor Dr. Carolina Olano, Secretary General of the World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) and Dr. Edgardo Smecuol (Honorary Secretary of the Pan American Gastroenterology Organization (OPGE). The appointment is for Tuesday, May 24 , between 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. (Pacific time: GMT-7), at the San Diego Convention Center (Room 11), and those who are registered for DDW can access it both in person and online.

In the opinion of Dr. Edgardo Smecuol, “This space in Spanish is very important for our community of specialists attending the congress to get a clear message and in our language. This symposium will address 5 topics along with references from each specialty. For several years “The Best of DDW” had exhibitors who spoke Spanish but lived in the United States, and about 5 years ago some members of OPGE tried to give it a more Latin American imprint, so that they are not only Spanish speakers, but also referents of throughout the region, most of them being leaders of OPGE member societies”.

With more than a decade of experience, this space allows updating on the latest advances addressed in the congress, but it also constitutes a significant instance of camaraderie among members of our organization.

Editorial May 2022 – Welcome @Americas

Dear members of Scientific Societies of the continent, affiliated to the Pan American Organization of Gastroenterology (OPGE):

We welcome you to the long-awaited relaunch of @americas, our newsletter where we communicate national and international initiatives related to gastroenterology in our American continent. The COVID 19 pandemic distanced us in various aspects of family, work and corporate life, and in this context, OPGE’s activities were no exception.

The management of Uruguay was affected, delaying our congress, which was held virtually with great attendance and participation from the industry, with an exceptional academic-scientific level, for which I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez and his directors, since despite the difficulties, they managed to carry out the activities of OPGE, with a transfer of command that allows us from Chile to continue with the development of our beloved OPGE.

One of the initiatives that we want to reactivate is the dissemination and contact with national scientific societies, in which we have been present virtually since 2021 and now we resume participation in national congresses that will be held in person, starting with the this year’s DDW, with a section on “The Best of DDW in Spanish.” In addition, we will have our assembly of OPGE Presidents in person, generating a reunion with old and new friends, which will enhance during the 2021-2023 period those teaching, research and dissemination activities, as well as significant camaraderie.

All this will be crowned by the Pan American Week of Digestive Diseases (SPED) together with the Inter-American Society of Digestive Endoscopy (SIED) in the city of Santiago de Chile, from October 8 to 11, 2023, after having agreed on a change of SPED regulation that grants equal treatment to OPGE and SIED, reflecting a genuine interest in developing gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy in the continent, in a climate of mutual respect between these organizations.

The newsletter, @americas, we hope will be a communication channel for the main national activities, the presence of OPGE-SIED symposia in the activities of each member country, as well as OPGE’s participation in international events, including DDW (American Congress), UEG (European Congress) and WGO (World Congress).

We hope that the relaunch of @americas will enhance the reunion of gastroenterologists from the continent with the activities that are being carried out at the different levels already described, to favor the active participation of all of you in what we hope will be the “beginning of the end of the COVID 19 pandemic” in a gradual process from Uruguay to Peru, with the recent election of Lima, as the headquarters of SPED 2025, and of Dr. Alejandro Piscoya, as President-elect for the period 2023-2025.

Warm greetings

Dr. Arnoldo Riquelme (Chile)
OPGE President

Dr. Pablo Cortes (Chile)
OPGE Vice President

Dr. Edgardo Smecuol (Argentina)
Honorary Executive Secretary OPGE

Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana recognized in the World Gastroenterology Organization

The Pan American Congress of Gastroenterology of OPGE – Pan American Organization of …

The Pan American Congress of Gastroenterology of OPGE – Pan American Organization of Gastroenterology was one to remember. WGO was honored to participate, and we thank Dr. Eduardo Gutiérrez Galiana for his summary of the event in the most recent issue of e-WGN.

“The virtual modality in a Pan American Congress of Gastroenterology has been a new experience that has shown important advantages, allowing the participation of experts from all over the world to contribute with their teachings and facilitate global access for the participants. ”

See the full summary here: https://linktr.ee/WGO

The best of the DDW in Spanish

Finished the scientific activity “The best of the DDW in Spanish” Co-coordinated between Drs. Eduardo Gutierrez Galiana, President of the OPGE and Dr. Edgardo Smecuol, Permanent Secretary of the OPGE.

An excellent set-up of the main papers presented during the Congress. From left to right: Dr. E. Smecuol, Dr. Marcelo Vela (esophageal disorders), Dr. José Maria Renés Troche (neurogastroenterology), Dr. E. Gutierrez Galiana and Dr. Andrés Acosta (obesity).

OPGE Executive Committee with AGA

After an intense and productive meeting, the OPGE board of directors with Dr. Gilaad Laplan, Director of the International Subcommittee of the America Gastroenterology Association (AGA) and Monique Dyson, Executive Secretary of the AGA.

We find a lot of support and expectation in carrying out joint activities, particularly with the SPED (Pan American Week of Digestive Diseases)

The OPGE board of directors with the President of the World Gastro Organization

The OPGE board of directors with the President of the World Gastro Organization, Prof. Cihan Yurdaydin (Turkey), the elected president, Prof. Naima Amrabi (Morocco) and the next president Prof. Guilherme Macedo (Portugal).

Important advances in mutual support for the World Congress in Istanbul next September and for the SPED (Pan American Week of Digestive Diseases) in November 2020.

OPGE General Assembly

OPGE General Assembly held on Sunday May 19 in San Diego during the DDW with significant attendance from the vast majority of the countries of the continent.