18 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS MAY 2017 Editorial | Expert Point of View | WCOG at ACG 2017 | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events “Lobos” Intensive Hepatology Course for Young Physicians in Argentina Federico Villamil, MD President Fundación para la Docencia e Investigación de las Enfermedades del Hígado Fundación para la Docencia e In-vestigación de las Enfermedades del Hígado (FUNDIEH) was created after a generous contribution from Thomas McGeary, an American engi-neer who underwent liver transplanta-tion in Los Angeles under the care of a hepatologist and a surgeon from Argentina who are both members of the Board of Directors. This non-profit foundation was legally approved in Argentina in 2000 with the main goals of supporting research and edu-cation in hepatology and liver trans-plantation. FUNDIEH has organized several national and regional courses (Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay) and provides continuous educational activities through its web page (www. fundieh.org.ar). A special section of the web entitled “Hepatology for Everyone” includes short conceptual articles published every 10-15 days and with contents directed mostly to non-hepatologists. The Intensive Hepatology Course for Young Physicians started in 2004 and has been held annually since then for 13 consecutive years in the small town of Lobos, located at around 100 kilometers from the city of Buenos Aires. Being in a small hotel in Lobos, almost fully booked by course participants and far from “the noise” of Buenos Aires, provides an ideal environment for a course like this where close interaction between Faculty and young attendees is the key for success. Selection of participants is based on CV, but mostly on a letter describing their clinical practice and interest in liver diseases. A significant proportion of attendees are gastro-enterology residents. We prioritize physicians who are completing their training in major centers of Buenos Aires or La Plata but will return to their provinces of origin to practice medicine. In order to maintain a close personal and scientific interaction between Faculty and participants, the number of attendees is restricted to a maximum of 40. The “Lobos Course” has become a tradition which is transmitted from generation to generation in between the major gastroenterology residences of the country. Consequently, there is not much need for advertising because all residents know that in one or two years at most it will be their turn to be part of the course. It is a true federal event with a Latin American compo-nent. Since 2004, there have been 398 participants from all 23 provinces of Argentina and 58 from Latin Ameri-can countries such as Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Para-guay, Peru and Uruguay. FUNDIEH covers all expenses including transportation, with the ex-ception of the international flights of physicians coming from outside of Ar-gentina, accommodation and meals. The 3-day course is very intensive (to-tal of around 26 hours) and covers the The 3-day course is very intensive (total of around 26 hours) and covers the entire spectrum of hepatology, from the very basic (liver tests, imaging, histopathology) to the more complex topics such as liver transplantation. “Lobos” course participants entire spectrum of hepatology, from
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