About Us
Our Functions: Education
The goal is to improve digestive health by educating ourselves, our colleagues, our patients, and the public.
Physician Education: Members of the DDC have access to a wide variety of educational resources. Several conferences are held throughout each week. Members participate in the standard training of undergraduates and postgraduates in the different constituent departments. In addition, advanced postgraduates are accepted (for periods of one to two years) for training in particular techniques. These include endoscopic procedures such as ERCP and EUS, laparoscopic surgery, clinical epidemiology science methods, motility, hepatology, etc. Many of these trainees are from overseas, and return as academic leaders for their own countries.
Endoscopy Learning Program: The DDC has developed an Endoscopy Learning Program which incorporates state-of-the-art techniques for teaching gastrointestinal endoscopy. The program encompasses technologies ranging from computer simulation of endoscopic procedures to one-on-one supervised hands-on training. Tutorials in ERCP and EUS for physicians and nurses feature live demonstrations and diadactic leactures.
Conferences: Conferences in GI, Liver Transplant, and Surgery are held throughout the year with our premiere meeting being the post-Digestive Disease Week (DDW) "Endoscopy at the Beach" meeting. At this conference, experts from around the world provide their impressions on the most important endoscopic presentations at DDW. Members of the DDC lecture throughout the United States and overseas.
Staff Education: Tutorials are held regularly for DDC nursing and technical staff.
Patient and Public Education: A Digestive health program oversees patient education and community outreach. We have produced a wide range of educational materials for our patients. Many of these are available online and have been developed into interactive, multimedia teaching tools. Outreach effects include health fairs, patient advocacy, and colon cancer prevention initiatives.
World Wide Web Site: Our Internet web site contains resources for patient, public and professional education.