13 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS APRIL 2015 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2015: AGW/WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events Easier to Digest James Toouli, MD, MBBS, PhD, FRACS Emeritus Professor of Surgery President, World Gastroenterology Organisation Adelaide, Australia In an exclusive interview, Professor James Toouli explains how WGO aims to not only improve the worldwide education of gastroenterology professionals, but also engage the public and decision makers in the major issues concerning digestive disorders Can you introduce yourself and your role within the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO)? What are your main responsibilities as President? I am Emeritus Professor of Surgery at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia; I retired from active clinical practice nearly a year ago and hence the Emeritus title. In the past, I headed the Gastroenterology Surgical department at Flinders Medical Centre and was Professor of Surgery at the University. I am the first surgeon-President of WGO and first Australian to take up the role. As President, I oversee all of the multiple activities of WGO around the world. A hard-working executive secretary and her staff based in Milwaukee, USA, ably assist me. In addition, a five-person Executive Committee and the Governing Council, which is made up of chairs of the various WGO committees, support me. When was the Organisation first established and how has it developed over the years? WGO was formed in 1935 and incorporated in the US in 1958. It was originally known as Organisation Mondiale de Gastroenterologie (OMGE) and renamed in 2006. Our membership consists of 110 gastroenterology societies around the world, which make up almost all gastroenterology societies in existence. Thus, we have the ability to reach over 50,000 gastroenterologists. Which major health issues does the Organisation seek to address? Some of the commonest debilitating diseases are those of the digestive system; eg. diarrhoeal illnesses, hepatitis, gastric, colon and liver cancers, and non-alcoholic and alcoholic liver diseases, to name a few. Only a quarter of the world’s population has access to the high standard of healthcare required to address these problems. WGO is focused on improving health worker education in the other three-quarters of the global population and areas where these problems are prevalent. Providing meaningful and appropriate education where it is needed positively impacts our ability to address these major health issues, but also ensures people with such knowledge remain in their countries of origin, thus helping to curtail the brain drain from less-privileged regions of the world. Could you describe some of the outreach work WGO facilitates in order to improve knowledge, prevention and treatment of digestive healthcare? Our outreach work is conducted through our various programmes, which include activities undertaken by our Training Centers. In addition, each year since 2001 we have run Train the Trainers Workshops, in which our member societies are invited to nominate two of their known educators to attend. The Workshops are limited to no more than 50 individuals and have a faculty of 10. Focusing on teaching teachers how to teach, they have become increasingly popular, important and successful over the years. How do the 17 WGO Training Centers across the world provide training that focuses on the particular local needs of the region in which they are situated? By early 2015, WGO will have 24 Training Centers around the world. These will be geographically spread and shall include South and Central America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The Centers are important to the professional development of health workers from the surrounding regions and countries. Trainees attend the Training Centers for variable periods of time ranging from weeks to years in order to attain skills they can take back to their communities. This upskilling of doctors and other healthcare workers impacts the standard of medicine delivered to their communities. The training delivered at the various Centers is chosen by local directors and their staff, thus making it relevant for their local needs. WGO provides educational guidelines and monitors
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