‘A History of the European Society of Coloproctology’ was originally conceived by Andrew Shorthouse who invited John Nicholls to join him in the venture. Both of us had been involved in the early years when the ECCP was the only European organisation in the specialty. We witnessed the formation of the EACP and the process which led to the unification of both to create the European Society of Coloproctology in 2006. Our motivation was to preserve for posterity the events leading up to the creation of the Society and to record its subsequent trajectory which proved to be highly successful. We hoped that this would not only be a useful historical record but also a source of information and even inspiration for subsequent generations.
In writing the ‘History’ we have greatly enjoyed identifying those who contributed to the evolution of the coloproctological organisations in Europe. This has brought back many happy memories of friendship and collaboration. We are also full of admiration for the extraordinary breadth and extent of expansion of the Society in the fields of clinical activity, research, education, accreditation and certification and the ever increasing quality of the annual meetings.
We are most grateful to Neil Smart, Editor-in-Chief of Colorectal Disease, John Wiley the publisher and Lindsey Whitehouse and Vanessa McCourt of Integrity International Events, whose accurate records of annual meeting programmes and committee meetings of the Society made our task possible.
View 'A History of the European Society of Coloproctology' here
Andrew J Shorthouse BSc, MS, FRCS
R John Nicholls MA, FRCS, hon FACS, hon ESCP