WEO Outreach South America Committee – Basic Therapeutic Endoscopy Course for Young Doctors

WEO in collaboration with FAAED (Federacion Argentina de Asociaciones de Endoscopia Digestiva) successfully conducted its first 2024 outreach activity in South America, on April 4–5 at the El Cruse Hospital, Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The course was primarily organized by WEO Co-Chair for South America, Dr. Eduardo de Moura, and the President of FAAED, Dr. Pablo Rodriguez. Local faculty included Dr. Raul Matano (Director of El Cruz Hospital), Dr. Nelson Condado, and Dr. Martin Guidi, and international faculty were from Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and the USA.

To enable personalized one-to-one training, only 12 young doctors were selected through competitive application for this basic therapeutic GI endoscopy course. Over half of those selected were women. Training initially included practice on simulators, carrying out therapeutic procedures such as complex polypectomy, esophageal stricture dilation and stenting, G-tube placement, and closing defects and perforations.

Next, the participants received hands-on training on patients requiring these therapeutic interventions. Several interactive sessions were also held where invited faculty presented videos of difficult cases they had encountered in their practice.

The immediate feedback from the attendees was excellent, and WEO/FAAED plans to contact the attendees in 6 months for further follow-up.