Newsletter from the Secretary
Dear Colleagues,
I am glad to report that ESCP goes from strength to strength. The annual meeting in Prague was a resounding success. More than 1000 delegates attended from 5 continents! Membership has increased to over 650 with all European countries now represented. A membership booklet containing important contact details for colorectal surgeons across Europe was published at the meeting. If you have not received your copy please contact your ESCP National Representative or you can email the Secretariat.
The scientific programme at the Annual Meeting was considered by all to have been excellent. Five keynote lectures and six symposia were delivered in plenary session while 108 oral scientific papers and 338 posters were also presented. The pre-conference CME update was well attended and the Anorectal & Pelvic Floor Ultrasound course was oversubscribed. Great credit is due to Lindsey Whitehouse and her administrative colleagues in Integrity, the local organizers and the ESCP Programme Committee. Prof John Nicholls stepped down after three years as chairman of the Programme Committee. His efforts on behalf of ESCP were recognized by a presentation on the last day of the conference.
The Annual General Meeting approved amendments to the Scottish Memoranda and Articles of Association (documents required under Scottish law for any charitable body) such that they are now completely in harmony with the original Austrian constitution, and they become the UK day to day working documents by which the Society runs and is accountable under UK company law. This allows the current arrangements by which ESCP operates to continue. Twice yearly meetings of the Council will continue to take place alternatively in Vienna and at the annual meeting. This brings to an end a period of constitutional uncertainty.
ESCP continues to develop as the voice of Colon and Rectal Surgery across Europe. The ESBQ examinations in coloproctology were held in association with the annual meeting. Strong links have been established with UEGF (European Federation of Gastroenterology). For 2010 and 2011, ESCP will be represented on the UEGF Executive Council by Dr Alexander Engel. ESCP will partake in the preconference CME update at the UEGW meeting in London, UK during November.
ESCP provided eight bursaries for trainees to visit units in the Czech Republic before this year’s annual meeting. Bursaries will be available for the 2010 meeting in Sorrento with the opportunity to visits units in Italy. ESCP has established a travelling fellowship for a visiting Japanese surgeon or surgical trainee to visit European centres and attend the annual meeting. This year Dr Tsuyoshi Konishi was selected by the Japanese Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and delivered an excellent scientific paper at the ESCP annual meeting. The ESCP Travelling Fellow to Japan for 2009 is Dr Baljit Singh from Oxford, UK who will travel to Japan in November. Details of the application processes for 2010 will be available on the ESCP web site early in 2010. The educational activities of ESCP are coordinated by the Education Committee, chaired by Prof. Lars Påhlman.
The Research Committee, chaired by Prof Søren Laurberg, arranged a highly successful forum for clinical trial protocols during the annual meeting. This will be a feature of next year’s conference and plans are being made to provide a review process for trial protocols that may be of assistance to members.
ESCP was pleased to welcome Dr James Fleshman, current President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons to the annual meeting in Prague. Close links between ESCP and ASCRS have been established and the possibility reciprocity of membership privileges is being explored.
The next annual meeting will take place in Sorrento from Wednesday 22nd – Saturday 25th September 2010. It will be difficult to surpass the Prague meeting, but the local organizers led by our President Prof Giovanni Romano, is determined to do so!
Ronan O’Connell
ESCP Secretary