ACG Edgar Achkar Visiting Professorship Program

THE ACG INSTITUTE’S EDGAR ACHKAR VISITING

PROFESSORSHIP PROGRAM represents the exemplary educational offerings of the ACG Institute and its ongoing mission to provide quality educational opportunities for members. As fewer resources are available for visiting speakers, the ACG Institute continues to create opportunities for speakers to serve as faculty for medical grand rounds presentations and to enhance the educational experience for GI fellows-in-training while providing objective, timely, and clinically relevant presentations to ACG member physicians in the community.

The purpose of these visits is to reach a diverse number of programs while aiming to maximize the impact of each visit by targeting GI training programs, which could also leverage an additional community event with local ACG member physicians, sometimes in conjunction with a local gut club. The programs offer expertise for a specific area of need at each institution.

This year marks the seventh year of the ACG Edgar Achkar Visiting Professorship Program’s offerings, featuring 16 visits with GI fellows-in-training and faculty.

Due to COVID-19, the ACG Institute has now started facilitating virtual visits for institutions to help accommodate visiting professors.

THIS PROGRAM BEARS THE NAME OF

EDGAR ACHKAR, MD, MACG, ACG Institute

Director Emeritus, honoring him for his dedication to the ACG Institute and its aim to provide high quality educational programs to the members of the College.

The ACG Edgar Achkar Visiting Professorship Program has conducted more than 79 visits since its inception in 2014. These visits have taken place in 26 U.S. states, Washington, DC, and two Canadian provinces.

VISITING PROFESSORS 2019–2020 Annual Report of Programs & Activities | 29

EDWARD V. LOFTUS, JR., MD, FACG

visited the University of California-Davis, on September 19, 2019, to present on IBD. Dr. Sooraj Tejaswi, Fellowship Program Director, invited Dr. Loftus for his expert knowledge on all aspects of inflammatory bowel disease. On the first night, Dr. Loftus gave a talk at the Sacramento Gut Club, which was well attended. The audience was engaged and asked many insightful questions. This audience was a mix of community gastroenterologists and faculty/fellows at UC-Davis. The gastroenterology community is a small one so there were a number of people he knew from previous interactions. The next morning, Dr. Loftus also spent significant time with the GI fellows at UCDavis. First, they went through IBD-related Board questions, then the fellows presented cases, including a challenging case of autoimmune enteropathy. “This section of the visit was the most engaging I think, with lots of great opportunities for teaching points,” Dr. Loftus. Over the noon hour on Thursday, Dr. Loftus gave a talk at UC-Davis Medicine grand rounds on “Advances in IBD”. Again, this talk was well attended, with a mix of IM and GI faculty, residents, fellows, and other allied health staff (dietitians asked a lot of questions). “I went out to lunch with the 3 GI faculty who were most interested in IBD (Jesse Stondell, Eric Mao, and my former fellow Maneesh Dave), and I provided career advice.” Dr. Loftus.

The University of California-Davis reported that Dr. Loftus demonstrated a highly tailored and finessed approach to providing IBD care, in a field that may seem highly algorithmic and impersonal to the GI trainees. Dr. Loftus inspired all of the fellows on the value we offer to our patients and the bright future of this field. “We had a great evening with Dr. Loftus on his visit in Sacramento. Many UCD faculties and community physicians met with Dr. Loftus. We hope to host more ACG education and outreach programs in Northern California in the future.”

—Ronald Hsu, MD, FACG, ACG Governor Elect, Northern California

Photo below: © UC Regents / UC Davis Health

MARIA T. ABREU, MD

visited Mountain Vista Medical Center/ Midwestern University in Mesa, Arizona on November 12–13, 2019, to share her expertise on IBD as a guest of Danlu Wang, DO. The visit included a Gut Club presentation to community and academic gastroenterologists,

fellows, and NPs and PAs. Grand rounds also included attending physicians as well as family practice and internal medicine residents. At the Phoenix GI Society dinner, the engaged group of clinicians in attendance asked informed and important questions. “...the entire visit was impactful from the Gut Club lecture to Dr. Abreu giving a lecture to the fellows and attendings the following morning. I think the fellows appreciated the case discussions as well as the presentation at Gut Club and GI grand rounds.”

—Mountain Vista Medical Center/ Midwestern University GI Fellow

ROY SOETIKNO, MD, MS

visited the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on January 9, 2020 at the invitation of Sarah McGill, MD, MS. Dr. Soetikno presented a talk to the Triangle Gut Club on how to optimize the detection and resection of nonpolypoid (flat) colorectal neoplasms. The audience, mostly private practice physicians and other providers, was very engaged and had many questions on the pros and cons of different resection techniques. In addition, Dr. Soetikno presented an online course to UNC GI fellows and faculty just prior to his visit, Dr. Soetikno presented the literature on over-the-scope clip use for GI bleeding and several videos showing live cases of gastrointestinal bleeding and how the clips were used. Dr. Soetikno also led a detailed hands-on course on “Simulation Based Mastery Learning of Clipping Over The Scope Technique.” In two 3-hour sessions, Dr. Soetikno led UNC GI fellows and faculty members in the endoscopy unit to set up the over-the-scope clips, deploy them, and use the accessory anchors. Attendees used bleeding models to deploy six to eight clips per learner, and also learned the movements of the technician. Dr. Soetikno also had dinner with the fellows and GI attendings on Friday night. According to Dr. McGill, “the biggest impact of Dr. Soetikno’s visit was that almost all of our fellows and most of our luminal GI faculty learned a new endoscopic skill set--the use of over-thescope clips in GI bleeding. This was via preparation (via the online module) and repetition (during the hands-on course). For the GI faculty, we were exposed to a ‘flipped’ learning model and saw how to acquire a new endoscopic skill outside of fellowship training. I was present at all of the sessions, and I think the fellows appreciated most the ability to learn a skill that has direct applicability to patients we treat. The learners were engaged and excited. We are excited and hopeful that this allows us to more effectively treat GI bleeders and send fewer patients onto therapies that can have more complications, such as interventional radiology and surgery.”

“This was a wonderful program and far exceeded my expectations! Thank you, ACG, for supporting this important educational activity! We really appreciate the opportunity to advance our endoscopic skills.”

—The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Fellows

LAURA E. RAFFALS, MD, MS, FACG

was invited to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska on February 12, 2020, to present on IBD at the request of Erin T. Jenkins, MD. Dr. Raffals gave three lectures. The first was GI grand rounds and was attended by GI fellows, residents, GI faculty, and colorectal surgeons. In addition, Dr. Raffals presented a career development lecture for the fellows and later gave internal medicine grand rounds which was very well attended. The hospitalists and general internists were very engaged and asked numerous questions about preventative care recommendations in inflammatory

bowel disease patients in inpatient and outpatient settings. Gastroenterologists and other specialists in attendance were also impacted by her discussion regarding shared decision-making with patients. “I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the fellows who were very engaging and asked great questions related to IBD and career development. This is an outstanding opportunity to bring in a speaker from outside one’s institution allowing exchange of ideas, professional and career development,” Dr. Raffals.

“Dr. Raffals discussed work life integration and career development with our fellows, both informally at dinner and formally during a didactic session. The fellows were inspired by her mentorship, advice, and personal examples about this topic, particularly in regard to gaining leadership skills and finding enjoyment and passion in work. She also inspired us to continue to make innovations to our new gastroenterology fellowship program. This is the aspect of the program that impacted fellows the most.” —Creighton University Fellow

STEPHEN B. HANAUER, MD, MACG

had a virtual visit with Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania on August 7, 2020 at the invitation of M. Joshua Shellenberger, DO. Dr. Hanauer participated in grand rounds where fellows presented 10 cases and had specific questions for Dr. Hanauer to answer. During the two-hour grand rounds, Dr. Hanauer fielded questions and offered input on the following topics: Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and biologics. The audience was comprised of a range of fellows in the GI department. In a one-hour session, Dr. Hanauer presented on biologics and the “Best Practices in IBD Treatment 2020,“ focusing on Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The virtual presentation was attended by Geisinger fellows and faculty members. Dr. Hanauer’s presentation emphasized the concept of treating to target and using clearly defined and objective biomarkers and endoscopy/radiology to prevent progressive bowel damage and complications. In addition, a large portion of what he shared focused on the use of histopathology to assess musocal healing in IBD. Dr. Hanauer gave advice on how to tailor the treatment to the individual patient and the best ways to monitor patients through the proactive assessment of inflammation. Ultimately, his research proved that earlier biologic treatment is associated with better clinical remission outcomes.

“I very much enjoyed the virtual visit. The world has moved, temporarily or not, to virtual meetings. These are most successful when technology adapts to need for communications, which includes face to face interactions.”

—Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, MACG

2020 VISITSACG EDGAR ACHKAR VISITING PROFESSOR PROGRAMS 2019–2020 ROY M. SOETIKNO, MD, FACG, at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, January 9-11, 2020, presented on the use of over-the-scope clips in GI bleeding SUNANDA V. KANE, MD, MSPH, FACG* at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, postponed until later in 2020, EAMONN M.M. QUIGLEY, MD, MACG, at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, St. Luke’s, and West in New York, February 26-27, 2019, presented on IBS WILLIAM D. CHEY, MD, FACG, at University of Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, June 6-7, 2019, presented on IBS LAURA E. RAFFALS, MD, MS, FACG,* at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, February 12, 2020, presented on IBD STEPHEN B. HANAUER, MD, FACG will present on IBD and management of pregnancy and high quality care BRIAN E. LACY, MD, PHD, FACG at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, postponed until AMY S. OXENTENKO, MD, FACG, DAVID J. HASS, MD, FACG, at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, later in 2020, will present on GI motility at NYU School of Medicine in New York, at Cooper University Hospital in Mount Pennsylvania, August 7, 2020, presented disorders April 2, 2019, presented on IBD Laurel, New Jersey, June 13, 2019, presented on IBD MILLIE D. LONG, MD, MPH, FACG STEPHEN B. HANAUER, MD, MACG, on video capsule JOHN E. PANDOLFINO, MD, MSCI, FACG at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, at Lehigh Valley Health Network in DOUGLAS K. REX, MD, MACG, at Providence-Providence Park Hospital in Massachusetts, postponed until later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, April 3-4, 2019, at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Southfield, Michigan, September 10, 2020, 2020, will present on IBD presented on IBD Center El Paso, June 14, 2019, presented presented on esophageal science DAVID T. RUBIN, MD, FACG DAVID T. RUBIN, MD, FACG, at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, May 8–9, 2019, presented on IBD on removal of difficult polyps ASHWANI K. SINGAL, MD, MS, FACG, at University of Iowa in Iowa City, July 25, 2019, presented on hepatic porphyria PAUL Y. KWO, MD, FACG at University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, September 16, 2020, presented on hepatology and transplant hepatology at Methodist Dallas Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, postponed until later in 2020, will present on IBD BRUCE E. SANDS, MD, MS, FACG BRIAN E. LACY, MD, PhD, FACG, at New York Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell EDWARD V. LOFTUS, JR., MD, FACG, at University of California Davis, CAROL A. BURKE, MD, FACG at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, postponed until later in 2020, will at University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, postponed until later in 2020, will present on IBD in New York, April 26, 2019, presented on September 19, 2019, presented on IBD present on CRC screening and genetics motility and anorectal disorders MARIA T. ABREU, MD, CHRISTINA Y. HA, MD, FACG *Received funding in 2019, visit scheduled in 2020 NICHOLAS J. SHAHEEN, MD, MPH, FACG, at Mountain Vista Medical Center/ at University of New Mexico in at Wayne State University/Detroit Medical Midwestern University in Mesa, Arizona, Albuquerque, New Mexico, postponed until Center in Detroit, Michigan, May 9–10, November 12–13, 2019, presented on IBD later in 2020, will present on IBD 2019 VISITS 2019, presented on esophageal motility, dyspepsia, and GERD DAVID A. JOHNSON, MD, MACG at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in Newark, New Jersey, postponed until later in 2020, will present on translational gastroenterology 2019–2020 Annual Report of Programs & Activities | 35